DHL Shutting down U.S. Operations...

[iGary]

Just coming in on CNN.

Yikes, that's a lot of delivery drivers, pilots and other folks without jobs.

Edit: They have yanked it off the "Breaking news" section. Hrmmm.

 

[rdowns]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...x?guid={33087DB0-161A-4EED-97D4-51711EF1A19C}

PLANTATION, Fla., Nov 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --International shipping to/from U.S. remains intact
--Will reduce U.S. operating costs by over 80%
--U.S. stays an integral part of DHL's global network

DHL, the world's number one international logistics and express service provider, today announced a repositioning of its U.S. Express business. Beginning January 30, 2009, DHL's U.S. Express business will focus entirely on its international offerings and will discontinue its domestic-only air and ground services. However, the company will retain a strong international presence and capability in the U.S. going forward.

The announcement was made this morning at a press conference held in Bonn, Germany by Deutsche Post World Net, parent company of DHL U.S. Express.

 

[Diatribe]

They just made it official. They're going to shut down their entire U.S. local operation and cut 14.900 jobs.

German
Link

Edit: Beat me to it. And the above link is probably easier to understand for most here anyway. Gonna leave the link for those who speak German.

 

[edesignuk]

They're going to shut down their entire U.S. local operation and cut 14.900 jobs.

Holy. S***.

 

[iGary]

They just made it official. They're going to shut down their entire U.S. local operation and cut 14.900 jobs.

German
Link

Edit: Beat me to it. And the above link is probably easier to understand for most here anyway. Gonna leave the link for those who speak German.

This is going to be ****** Christmas for a lot of people this year.

 

[JNB]

Was there really enough room for three intra-US delivery behemoths, anyway? Considering how much I actually saw DHL being used all over the country, I suspect the international operation must have been subsidizing the domestic US one.

 

[iGary]

Was there really enough room for three intra-US delivery behemoths, anyway? Considering how much I actually saw DHL being used all over the country, I suspect the international operation must have been subsidizing the domestic US one.

Apple uses(d) DHL for most if not all of their parts/service delivery. I'm sure FedEx will get that.

 

[Diatribe]

Holy. S***.

This is going to be ****** Christmas for a lot of people this year.

Yeah, it is really unfortunate that this comes in December. They have a $1.2 billion loss this year in U.S. operations, which is just insane. And looking at the economic crisis there are a lot of companies looking at their business right now and deciding what actions to take, even the ones that are not doing so badly. This is far from being over.

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

I love the etiquette and wordplay used when cutting jobs. "Repositioning" "Dynamic Shift" and "Efficiency Improvements".

 

[SwiftLives]

DHL slashes workforce. Circuit City files for bankruptcy.

And it's not even 9:00 yet.

Gonna be a long week.

 

[iGary]

Circuit City files for bankruptcy.

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

I thinks its time to take the hit on my 401k.

 

[edesignuk]

All this along with the GM & Ford news, crikey

 

[SwiftLives]

I thinks its time to take the hit on my 401k.

It's probably down to about a 0.401k by now.

On the bright side, now is the time to invest. On the downside, now is the time to invest with what, exactly?

Long week.

 

[aristobrat]

DHL is a surprise, but Circuit City's been tanking for a long, long time.

It sucks that these folks are all losing jobs (esp. right before the holidays), but it double-sucks that Circuit City is announcing bankruptcy today, which will undoubtedly be attributed to the recent 'economic crisis', when their problems have been going on for the last few years.

 

[iGary]

DHL is a surprise, but Circuit City's been tanking for a long, long time.

It sucks that these folks are all losing jobs (esp. right before the holidays), but it double-sucks that Circuit City is announcing bankruptcy today, which will undoubtedly be attributed to the recent 'economic crisis', when their problems have been going on for the last few years.

Going into bankruptcy right before the holidays spells the end of Circuit City, in my opinion. They have no cash, their stock is almost worthless and they have a ton of liabilities outstanding.

 

[rdowns]

Going into bankruptcy right before the holidays spells the end of Circuit City, in my opinion. They have no cash, their stock is almost worthless and they have a ton of liabilities outstanding.

According to what I've read, they had no choice. They owe their creditors huge sums ( HP at $118M, Samsung at $116M, Sony at $60M, Zenith at $42M, Toshiba at $18M) and needed to do something to get inventory into their stores.

 

[aristobrat]

Going into bankruptcy right before the holidays spells the end of Circuit City, in my opinion. They have no cash, their stock is almost worthless and they have a ton of liabilities outstanding.

I agree. What's crazy is that Best Buy has stated that they'd consider buying some of Circuit City's closed locations. Amazing how two companies in the same retail space can be having such opposite experiences.

 

[iGary]

According to what I've read, they had no choice. They owe their creditors huge sums ( HP at $118M, Samsung at $116M, Sony at $60M, Zenith at $42M, Toshiba at $18M) and needed to do something to get inventory into their stores.

No choice, I agree, but I think they're done for. Kramer basically said "anyone without cash in the bank going into this holiday season is in trouble."

I think I believe him.

 

[rdowns]

No choice, I agree, but I think they're done for. Kramer basically said "anyone without cash in the bank going into this holiday season is in trouble."

I think I believe him.

They have secured a $1.1 billion loan to provide working capital while reorganizing. Apparently, credit must not be that tight.

Horvers added, "I think it's encouraging that they were able to secure financing." Circuit City said it had lined up $1.1 billion in loans to provide working capital while it is in bankruptcy protection. That replaces a $1.3 billion asset-backed loan it had been using.

Loans to operate while in bankruptcy are called debtor-in-possession, or DIP, loans.

"That's a big DIP in the current market," said John Penn, a partner at Haynes & Boone who is not involved in the case. "To secure that size DIP now is quite a achievement. With the news of the cuts last week -- and vendors wanting to know they can get paid -- having a recognizable source like a DIP can calm a lot of vendor concerns."

The company said in its filing that it had $3.4 billion in assets and $2.32 billion in liabilities, as of Aug. 31

 

[iGary]

They have secured a $1.1 billion loan to provide working capital while reorganizing. Apparently, credit must not be that tight.

Someone has $1.1 billion they wanna write off.

I still think they'll go buh-bye. I hope I am wrong for the sake of all the employees.

 

[Abstract]

Someone has $1.1 billion they wanna write off.

Well someone (i.e. your government) has far more money going towards GM, and that isn't exactly really a sound investment either.

 

[OutThere]

To be fair DHL's domestic shipments market share had to be pretty small...yes Apple used them, but very few other companies. It's rare to find DHL as a shipping option buying online, and I certainly would send packages Fedex or UPS before DHL. Hell stuff that comes to my house via DHL is dropped off by a sketchy guy in his beat up chrysler minivan.

They have secured a $1.1 billion loan to provide working capital while reorganizing. Apparently, credit must not be that tight.

All this talk about the credit crunch and you see stuff like that, and Chase (unprompted) bumps my Visa's credit limit by 30%...

 

[Antares]

I knew something was up with DHL when, a few weeks ago, they suddenly and unexpectedly broke a contact to provide DHL shipping services at Walgreens stores. That could have been lucrative for DHL.

 

[bombboy]

Fed-Ex services are just so much better and freight pricing is much better. I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner when Fed-Ex started picking up LTL companies to beef up their freight backbone. When Fed-Ex pulled that, UPS went and picked up Overnite Express to do the same. DHL was relegating small stuff and document packs more than anything by then.