By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DHL says it's ready to take on United Parcel Service and FedEx for a share of the domestic express shipping market, and this week began telling the rest of the country.

The Brussels-based company, which last year bought the land assets of Airborne Express for just over $1 billion for just this purpose, has launched a $150 million advertising campaign aimed directly at the two largest names in the shipping business.

"This campaign focuses on choice and that there is now a different option than the duopoly that now exists," said Dick Metzler, DHL America's executive vice president for marketing. "Shippers and small- and medium-sized businesses and even large businesses want more choice in express shipping."

One TV ad portrays trucks from UPS and FedEx pulling up on either side of a railroad crossing, with each driver acknowledging the other. The train in the middle streaks past, filled with DHL trucks. One of the drivers then says, "I didn't see that coming."

Metzler said that the company is ready to handle any extra shipments the ads might create through its domestic hubs at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and in Wilmington, about 50 miles northeast of Cincinnati.

Wilmington is the former site of the Airborne Express hub, while DHL spent $220 million on a new hub and sort building at the Cincinnati airport. That complex opened last year.

The company is trying to decide where to consolidate operations, or whether to keep both hubs operational. Company officials say a decision could come as soon as next month, and Metzler would not comment further on the issue. DHL employs more than 1,800 in Cincinnati, while the Wilmington hub employs 6,500 and is the largest employer in Clinton County.

Both states have stepped up their efforts to land the hub, with Ohio Gov. Bob Taft meeting with DHL officials on May 17 and the state creating an incentive package.

Ohio Department of Development spokeswoman Maria Smith would not comment further on what a potential incentive package might include, but said the process of creating such a deal is "under way."

In 1995, Airborne Express received a 60 percent, seven-year state tax credit for the creation of 107 jobs and also received a $500,000 grant from the Ohio Investment in Training Program. In 1993, the company got a $100,000 grant from the state's Business Development Account.

DHL officials also have met with Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher, and Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet Secretary LaJuana Wilcher. Kentucky is putting together its own incentive package. Fletcher spokesman Doug Hogan also would not disclose any details of a potential deal.

DHL already received $17 million from the state to help build ramp space and de-icing pads when it put up the new building. Another part of the deal included the state legislature agreeing to cap the amount of jet fuel tax states collect from airlines at $1 million annually per carrier, down from $4 million a year. That applies to all airlines, including Delta Air Lines and Comair.

The ad campaign, which began this week, includes print and Internet spots. DHL also has bought a prominent sign on the outfield wall at Great American Ball Park, where it also helps sponsor a large hospitality suite.

And the company has put up billboards around Cincinnati, including one that shows a map of the region with a star over Erlanger and says "We not only deliver here, but we work here."

But Metzler said that particular billboard was not any indication as to which way the company was leaning with regard to which hub it will keep.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com