DHL Global Forwarding has launched a road freight service along the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge which cuts transit times by up to 75%.

According to DHL, the new 24/7 route links the manufacturing hub of Zhuhai with Hong Kong in just two hours, compared with the previous eight-hour journey via Humen Bridge. The service operates from Hong Kong International Airport and its surrounding ports to allow for more frequent flights and sailings, supporting global exports of technological equipment, garments and electronics components from China to the rest of the world.

“The previous 200-kilometre route is now reduced to a mere 80 kilometres, allowing for greater flexibility in pick-ups and more stable transit times to support just-in-time manufacturing in the Delta,” said Steve Huang, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding China. “Our customers will benefit from a more efficient, reliable and cost-saving route for the import and export of goods, particularly for finished or semi-finished products made out of materials sourced from all over the world.”

The solution is available for full-truckload and less-than-truckload shipments, and incorporates warehousing services to consolidate imports of raw materials to a single point. Exports of finished goods can also be distributed from single to multiple points, reducing the number of individual transactions, customs fees, costs and overall delivery times.

The 55-kilometre HZMB opened to the public in October 2018 and features the world’s longest undersea bridge tunnel system, connecting the West Pearl River Delta manufacturing zones in mainland China with Hong Kong’s air and ocean freight hubs.

DHL’s new HZMB Road Freight Solution will cater to 11 industrial cities along the Greater Bay Area, which is home to over 70 million people and has an economy worth over €1.57 trillion (US$1.75 trillion). High-tech manufacturing in the Zhuhai Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone accounted for almost 28% of Zhuhai’s GDP in 2018.

“This latest addition will be able to meet the economic demands and adapt to commercial needs on both sides of the eastern and western bank of the Pearl River,” said Huang. “Our new service, which ties directly into our larger multimodal network tracing the Belt and Road, will help make seamless freight connectivity between Asia and the rest of the world a reality.  This would in turn bring a new degree of flexibility to our customers’ manufacturing and export strategies amidst even the most volatile market conditions.”