DHL Freight has extended its service levels for groupage (LTL) shipments on the trade lane between Sweden, Czech Republic and Austria. Cargo leaving DHL Freight’s hub in Helsingborg, Sweden, arrives the next day in Brno, Czech Republic, and reaches Vienna, Austria, a few hours later, according to the company. Due to fixed scheduled, daily departures from the hubs, end-to-end lead times between the markets improved from previously up to five to now just three days.

“We have modified this trade lane to address market requirements and our customers’ need for faster deliveries. The highly reliable and now improved door-to-door lead times will allow our customers to improve their production cycles and reduce internal inventory and fixed costs,” said Amadou Diallo, CEO DHL Freight.

The shipments arriving in Brno and in Vienna are delivered to customers in the respective countries the following day. Additionally, customers shipping to or from Hungary and Slovakia also benefit from improved lead time by up to two days, as cargo is consolidated in Vienna hub and further shipped with daily overnight connections to other Central- and Southeast-European countries, according to DHL.

“We have seen great interest in this line, particularly from small and medium-sized enterprises across all industries. Germany is still the most important export destination for Swedish customers,” said Peter Hesslin, CEO DHL Freight Sweden & Nordics. “But with the change in the production cycles and the improved supply chains other markets become more and more important, too.”