DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational logistics company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany.[5] It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, delivering over 1.7 billion parcels per year.[6] A subsidiary and the namesake of DHL Group, its express mail service DHL Express is one of the market leaders for parcel services in Europe. DHL also operates a separate parcel service targeting the German consumer market in conjunction with Deutsche Post.
The company DHL itself was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1969 and expanded its service throughout the world by the late 1970s.
The company was primarily interested in offshore and intercontinental deliveries, but the success of FedEx prompted DHL's own domestic (intra-US) expansion starting in 1983. In 1998, Deutsche Post began to acquire shares in DHL. It reached controlling interest in 2001, and acquired all outstanding shares by December 2002.[7] The company then absorbed DHL into its Express division, while expanding the use of the DHL brand to other Deutsche Post divisions, business units, and subsidiaries. Today, DHL Express shares its DHL brand with business units such as DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Supply Chain.[8] It gained a foothold in the United States when it acquired Airborne Express in 2003.
History
Origins
While Larry Hillblom was studying law at University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law in the late 1960s, he accepted a job as a courier for the insurance company Michael's, Poe & Associates (MPA). He started running courier duty between Oakland International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, picking up packages for the last flight of the day, and returning on the first flight the next morning, up to five times a week.[9]
After he graduated, Hillblom met with MPA salesman Adrian Dalsey and they planned to expand MPA's concept of fast delivery to other business enterprises. They flew between Honolulu and San Francisco, transporting bills of lading for their first client, Seatrain Lines.[9]
Name origins
Services
DHL Express's global headquarters are part of the Deutsche Post headquarters in Bonn. Headquarters for North America are located in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Plantation, Florida, while its Asia–Pacific and emerging markets headquarters are located in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and mainland China. The European hub is in Leipzig, Germany. Most of DHL Express's business is incorporated as DHL International GmbH.
Major competitors include FedEx, UPS, and national post carriers such as United States Postal Service (USPS) and Royal Mail. However, DHL has a minor partnership with the USPS, which allows DHL to deliver small packages to the recipient through the USPS network known as DHL Global Mail, now known as DHL eCommerce. It is also the sole provider for transferring USPS mail in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
DHL offers worldwide services, including deliveries to countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Myanmar (formerly Burma). As it is German-owned, DHL is not affected by U.S. embargoes or sanctions and will ship to Cuba[42]
Environmental record
As of 2007, DHL took measures to control their environmental footprint by the use of alternative fuel vehicles. DHL changed vehicles in certain delivery fleets in order to use alternative fuels. Certain new vehicles used compressed natural gas.[45]
Use of electric vehicles
In December 2014, Deutsche Post DHL purchased the StreetScooter company, a small manufacturer of electric vehicles as part of its long-term goal to reach zero emissions in its delivery operations.[46] By year end 2016, some 2,000 vehicles had been produced.[47][48]
Finances
The DHL Express financial results are published in the Deutsche Post AG annual report.[8] In 2016, this division's revenue increased by 2.7% to €14 billion.[53] The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 11.3% over 2015 to €1.5 billion.[54]
Recent Financial Data Quarter Ending September 30, 2024: Revenue: $23.446 billion (6.9% increase year-over-year). Twelve Months Ending September 30, 2024: Revenue: $92.791 billion (0.25% decline year-over-year). Annual Revenue for 2023: Revenue: $91.503 billion (10.8% decline from 2022). Annual Revenue for 2022: Revenue: $102.58 billion (3.17% increase from 2021). Annual Revenue for 2021: Revenue: $99.425 billion (26.33% increase from 2020).
DHL Aviation
Deutsche Post owns five airline subsidiaries operating for DHL Express, operating approx. 250 aircraft and another 21 aircraft on order, which are collectively referred to as DHL Aviation. DHL Express is an equal partner in a sixth airline that operates for DHL Express:
- Blue Dart Aviation, Chennai, India, provides services for Indian destinations from Chennai International Airport
- DHL Aero Expreso, Panama City, Panama provides cargo services for destinations in Central and South America
- DHL Air UK, Hounslow, United Kingdom provides services for European destinations from East Midlands Airport
- European Air Transport Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany provides services for European destinations from Leipzig/Halle Airport
- AeroLogic (joint venture with Lufthansa), Schkeuditz, Germany provides services from Europe to central and eastern Asian destinations from Leipzig/Halle Airport and Frankfurt Airport
- SNAS/DHL,
Sponsorships
For several years, DHL was the primary sponsor of the Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder Le Mans Prototypes in the International Motor Sports Association American Le Mans Series. DHL have also sponsored Ryan Hunter-Reay's #28 IndyCar Series car for Andretti Autosport since 2011. They moved to Romain Grosjean in 2022 and then to Álex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing in 2024. With DHL, Hunter-Reay won the championship for the 2012 IndyCar Series season as well as the 2014 Indianapolis 500. DHL was the main title sponsor of the Jordan Formula One team during 2002. Since then, DHL has become a regular track-side sponsor at various Formula One races throughout each year, as well as becoming the 'Official Logistics Partner' of the category. Since 2007, they have also sponsored the DHL Fastest Lap Award for the driver that achieves the fastest laps in a season.[55]
Manchester United Football Club announced them as their first training kit sponsor in August 2011, agreeing to a four-year deal with DHL reported to be worth £40 million; it is believed to be the first instance of training kit sponsorship in English football.[56]
See also
- Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award
- DHL Balloon
- DHL Fastest Lap Award
- Wilmington, Ohio
External links
References
- facts & figures Deutsche Post DHL Group, April 2020^
- Deutsche Post DHL – Board of Management^
- 2024 Annual Report retrieved 5 May 2025^