By Mark Rembert
“Well, we’ve been waiting for the shoe to drop since the May 28 announcement, and I think it hit the ground today.” – Randy Riley, Clinton County Commissioner
It was more than 5 months ago that DHL’s parent company, Deutsche Post, announced that it would end its US air shipping services and shut down its hub in Wilmington. Yesterday, the company announced even greater cuts, stating that it will cease all of its domestic ground delivery services by Janurary 30, 2009.
This announcement suggests that, regardless of the outcome of DHL’s proposed deal with UPS, the Air Park in Wilmington will face massive cutbacks. At most, the Wilmington hub can hope to carry DHL’s international shipments into the U.S. These new cuts will eliminate an unknown number of jobs in Wilmington on top of the 8,200 jobs already threatened by the cutbacks in DHL’s air freight services. As many as 2,000 jobs are estimated to be indirectly at risk in Wilmington.
The biggest news in this new announcement is the Jan. 30 date. This is the first timeline DHL has released, and it will likely guide the local efforts to aid affected workers and develop an economic recovery strategy.
As events in Wilmington continue to unfold, WYSO will be bringing you coverage chronicling the news and stories behind Wilmington’s response to this economic catastrophe.
