By Emmanuel Oluebube, Correspondent UK

DHL Freight, one of the leading road freight providers in Europe, has announced two changes in its leadership team effective January 1, 2021, with Anabela Pires taking over as CEO for the region’s Central Eastern, Southern Europe & Americas, Middle East, Africa (CESE & AMEA) and Dr. Thomas Vogel becoming the new CEO for DHL Freight’s Germany, Austria and Switzerland cluster.

With her appointment, Anabela Pires also joins the DHL Freight Management Board, of which Thomas Vogel, in his current role as COO, is already a member. Both will report directly to Uwe Brinks, CEO DHL Freight.

Anabela Pires looks back on more than 25 years of experience in freight operations. Having begun her career at Deutsche Post DHL Group in 2012, she took on the additional responsibility of managing Freight’s Maintal, Germany terminal in 2014 before assuming her current role, in 2015, as Area Manager Central DHL Freight Germany & Terminal Manager Maintal. As of January 1, 2021 she takes over as CEO DHL Freight CESE & AMEA.

Pires’ predecessor Stefano Arganese will shift his focus to leading Freight’s E4U program in his new role as Chief Transformation Officer. The digitalization project, which also includes the development and rollout of the new transport management system EVO, is one of DHL Freight’s most important projects for the next several years.

Also effective January 1, 2021, Thomas Vogel, currently COO of DHL Freight, will take over as CEO DHL Freight Germany, Austria & Switzerland. He succeeds Bernhard Wirth, who will retire at the end of the year. Like Pires, Vogel is no stranger to the Group, having first joined Deutsche Post DHL Group in 2014 as head of strategy at Post & Parcel. In 2016 he was named SVP Resource Management for Post & Parcel Germany before moving to DHL Freight in 2017. Vogel became Freight’s Chief Operating Officer in 2018, playing a major role in increasing productivity and quality across the Freight network, and giving fresh impetus to Freight’s customs unit. Since 2019, Vogel has also been member of the Management Board of the digital freight platform Saloodo!.

“As a global logistics company with employees in over 220 countries and territories worldwide, diversity is key for us. We are committed to leading by example on this front, which is why we have established the goal of having 30 per cent women in our leadership positions by 2025,” explains DHL Freight CEO Uwe Brinks. “So I am all the more excited to have Anabela joining us on the board with her extensive management experience. We could not have done a better job filling these two positions with Anabela and Thomas to ensure continued, sustainable growth on all levels at DHL Freight.”

“I look forward to taking on the new position and appreciate the board’s trust and confidence in me,” says Pires. “With our Strategy 2025 we have shown that we are creating the right conditions for long-term growth, and I eagerly accept the challenge to join my colleagues in achieving and exceeding our ambitious targets.”

“The new D-A-CH cluster is in excellent shape; our focus now is to continue driving sustainable growth and to maintain the high level of quality,” says Vogel. “I very much look forward to the new challenge and to working together with the other board members to continuously promote growth, digitalization and sustainable transport solutions at DHL Freight.”