DHL, the world’s leading international express services provider, recently opened a new service center facility in Sunnyvale, California, to better serve the international shipping needs and growth from the many start-up and global technology companies in the region.

　　“Silicon Valley is a spectacular market that continues to flourish and have an impact on many different industries,” said John Fox, VP and General Manager of the Western U.S. for DHL Express. “DHL was founded in San Francisco nearly 50 years ago, and we are proud to have the opportunity to continue investing and growing in the area where it all started.”

　　The new $12 million, 39,000-square-foot facility features a sorting capacity of 3,000 packages per hour. Its central location at 1105 Kern Avenue in Sunnyvale will provide customers in the West San Jose, Santa Cruz, Mountain View and Sunnyvale areas with faster delivery times by up to one hour. In addition, customers in these areas will be able to take advantage of later shipment pickup cutoff times.

　　DHL now has four service centers in the Bay Area – Fremont, Oakland, San Francisco and now Sunnyvale.

　　As part of the company’s global initiative to reduce its carbon footprint, DHL is investing $3.5 million to add 30 electric vehicles to its 40-vehicle fleet in Sunnyvale. The new high-efficiency electric vehicles are part of the Deutsche Post DHL GoGreen program to reduce CO2 emissions by 30 percent by the year 2020.

　　DHL recently increased its Sunnyvale staff by 33%. The company currently employs 500 Bay Area operational staff, including couriers, agents, and management.