Germany - Railway train drivers strike announced for Thursday, November 15, 2007

Issue 042, November 15, 2007

Newsflash - Rail Strike in Germany

The DHL Global Forwarding Transport Center in Hamburg faces the prospect of delays and disruptions in our truck and rail service delivery because of a second strike announced by the German train drivers' union (the GDL), which is scheduled to commence at 02.00 hrs Thursday November 15 and continue until Saturday November 17.

Whilst last week's strike had a comparatively moderate impact on container traffic, this time we expect to see more serious disruptions as German Rail will have less time in which to organize emergency operations. In order to minimize delays in cargo pick-up and delivery, DHL will deploy additional truck capacity wherever possible but some delay is inevitable given that the supply of truck power is finite in nature.

We will keep you informed about the impact of this strike action in Germany as the situation develops.

Best regards,

Cas Pouderoyen
Sr. Vice President
Oceanfreight North America