New HKG-Macau bridge reduces DHL-GF’s transit time by 75%

When it comes to road-feeder services, nothing beats a good shortcut. DHL Global Forwarding (DHL-GF) said this week that that new 55-kilometer bridge-tunnel system connecting Hong Kong to Zuhai across China’s Pearl River Delta has slashed transit time by up to 75%, and reduced costs by up to 15%, since it opened last year.

The forwarder’s road freight service along the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the world’s longest bridge-tunnel system, connects Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) gateway hub with the manufacturing centers of the West Pearl River Delta region of mainland China’s Guangdong Province. While the project includes a connection to the autonomous region of Macau, the bridge system does not yet connect to it.

Before the bridge officially opened last October, the road connection between HKG and the West Pearl manufacturing zone was a 200-kilometer, eight-hour journey, involving a roundabout the estuary. Today, the full trip is about 80 kilometers and takes about two hours, DHL-GF said.

The new system allows 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 in 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.”