In May 2020, during the first Covid wave, the volume of parcels being handled in Etten-Leur increased sharply. But once the lockdown had ended the volume did not fall. The increase proved to be structural and the maximum capacity in Etten-Leur was reached earlier than planned. Time for a new depot in Goes, from where the routes to Zeeland would be driven. Serkan Yavas, Depot Manager Etten-Leur, tells us more.
‘It turned out that it wasn’t difficult to find premises in Goes. That’s because the owner of the depot in Goes also had premises in Goes. Both the building and its surrounding grounds were outdated and had to be renovated. A project manager was appointed in the summer of 2020 to supervise the project, and work began. The building was totally stripped. Actually everything was replaced, except the floor. The grounds around the building were also repaved. An old shed has now become a fantastic new depot.
From Goes we will be mainly covering the routes to Zeeland. 35 routes will be relocated from Etten-Leur to Goes, and from now on some of the drivers based at Etten-Leur will drive from the new depot. But we have also taken on many new employees who are now being trained in Etten-Leur. Employment agencies in Goes and Etten-Leur are working hard to recruit temporary employees to work in the warehouse.
What makes the Goes depot extra special? We will be using e-vehicles in the Middelburg-Vlissingen-Goes triangle. DPD’s aim is for all its transport to be fully electric in the thirty largest cities in the Netherlands by 2025. These three cities in Zeeland aren’t among the thirty largest, of course, but even so we will be using electric vehicles, and that’s something we are proud of!
The Covid measures mean that we can’t organize a big opening event, but we will certainly do so at a later date.’
Goes depot in figures
- Parcel volume: around 1.5 million parcels a year
- Delivery routes: 35 daily, with a potential expansion to 70 routes
- Drivers: 35
- Warehouse personnel: 15
- Office personnel: 6 FTEs
- Warehouse: 4200 m2, CO2-neutral
- Type of sorting system: Arco smart roller conveyor equipped with flowsort diverters
- Capacity: 2500 parcels an hour
- Scanning: fully automatic scanning
