DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post DHL providing international courier, parcel, and express mail services. Deutsche Post DHL is the world's largest logistics company operating around the world, particularly in sea and air mail.
The company was founded in the United States 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 their own 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. 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.
From Albania to Zimbabwe, DHL International delivers. The company, which constitutes the express delivery and logistics business segments of its parent, Deutsche Post, is a leader in the worldwide market for express delivery services. Overall, DHL's express service links 120,000 destinations in more than 220 countries and territories. The company provides delivery services from a network of about 4,700 offices, and it employs a fleet of some 72,000 vehicles and about 350 aircraft. In addition, DHL is a major provider of freight forwarding, logistics, and supply chain management services; it maintains some 3.5 million square meters of warehouse space at more than 1,000 distribution centers.
The DHL Express financial results are published in the Deutsche Post AG annual report. In 2016, this division's revenue increased by 2.7 per cent to €14 billion.
The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 11.3% over 2015 to €1.5 billion.