DHL Freight, the overland transport business of German global logistics group Deutsche Post World Net, has announced the launch of a regular road freight service between Europe and the Middle East, which it is touting as a lower cost alternative to air freight with faster transit times than ocean freight. “For shipments to and from the fast-growing Middle East region, DHL customers can now choose the most suitable mode of transport depending on the time/cost restraints associated with each individual shipment,” said the company. To guarantee short transit times, all European shipments are being consolidated in 13 major gateways and forwarded to a transit centre in Istanbul, Turkey. From there, the cargo is fed into the Middle East network where DHL operates 16 major distribution centres. All shipments include online track and tracing and DHL handles all customs clearance, letters of credit and all risk-insurance services. Middle East markets covered by the new service include: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Yemen.