DHL owner expected to cut more U.S. jobs

BONN, Germany – Deutsche Post AG is poised to announce thousands of job cuts at its DHL Express operations in the United States, possibly as early as today, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

The source on Sunday said that the Bonn-based express mail and logistics company was poised to announce that the cutbacks at its DHL operations in the United States would affect 12,000 to 13,000 jobs.

The cuts are part of a wider plan to curtail operations in the U.S., including ground deliveries, and would likely affect drivers, shipping clerks and warehouse workers. The express unit employs some 18,000 workers.

DHL closed its location in Presque Isle, Maine, on June 27, and its Brewer shop closed the next day.

Still, the latest expected job cuts would not signal Deutsche Post’s exit from the U.S., where it faces strident competition from UPS Inc. and FedEx Corp.

The source told the AP that the company’s U.S. logistics unit, which employs some 25,000 people, would not be affected and some staff at DHL would remain.

Deutsche Post itself did not comment Sunday.

Deutsche Post said earlier this year that competition, rising fuel prices and other factors have put its U.S. DHL operations on track to lose $1.6 billion by the end of the year.

In May, Deutsche Post’s chief executive Frank Appel announced a radical restructuring of the U.S. operations, which have posted recurrent losses. At the time, Appel said the company’s U.S. freight flights were to be taken over by rival UPS Inc.