DHL augments facility’s parcel capacity in northwest Germany

DHL has officially expanded its parcel center in Cologne-Eifeltor, Germany, bringing its sorting capacity to nearly 50,000 parcels per hour. The company disclosed this expansion on Tuesday, highlighting the need to accommodate increasing parcel volumes from businesses and individuals in the northwest region, which is a major economic and logistics hub and one of the most populous areas in the country.

This enhancement will enable DHL to hire 250 additional workers, increasing total employment at the facility to 750. The Post & Parcel division, a key unit of DHL Group, is investing over €1 billion annually over several years to restructure its network due to a decline in letter volumes and a surge in e-commerce shipping. Marc Hitschfeld, head of operations for Post & Parcel Germany at DHL Group, emphasized that the expansion is a strategic investment in network performance, driven by the growth of online retail and customers' expectations for fast and reliable deliveries.

The Cologne-Eifeltor parcel center, which has been operational since 1994, now matches the sorting capacity of the previous largest parcel center in North Rhine-Westphalia, located in Bochum. It is the second-largest parcel center in Germany, with only the DHL parcel center in Aschheim, near Munich, having a higher capacity. The new extension, which began construction in 2024 and was completed on schedule this summer, is linked to the existing facility via a bridge.

The site, formerly a demolished building, now features energy-efficient systems, including solar panels, underfloor heating, automatic ventilation control, and LED lighting. Post & Parcel Germany remains the leading postal service provider in Europe, dominating the German market for letters and parcels, and operates the largest parcel locker network in the country.