Express division
Time-definite international shipments
In the Express division, we transport urgent documents and goods reliably and on time from door to door. International time-definite shipments are our core business. The division’s main product is Time Definite International (TDI), a cross-border transport and delivery service with predefined, standardized transit times. Our expertise in customs clearance keeps shipments moving as a prerequisite in ensuring fast and reliable door-to-door service. We also provide industry-specific services to round out our TDI product. For example, our Medical Express transport solution, which is tailored specifically to companies in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, offers various types of thermal packaging for temperature-controlled, chilled and frozen contents.
We transported around 248 million TDI shipments worldwide in 2025. We estimate our global market share at around 43% on the basis of a survey from 2021. The key competitors of DHL Express are FedEx and UPS.
Fundamental dependence on the global economy and geopolitics
The business model of the Express division is based on the fast delivery of goods to both business customers (B2B) and consumers (B2C), particularly across borders. Changes in global trade flows – for example due to macroeconomic trends, tariffs or trade agreements – along with changes in consumer behavior can therefore have a positive or negative impact on the volumes transported and thus on revenue and network utilization. We counter negative changes on individual trade lanes with our very broad positioning and our ability, to a certain degree, to adjust network capacity and thus the cost base to current volumes.
Seasonality of business
The Express business sees noticeable fluctuations throughout the year. These are primarily influenced by global trade volumes and market-driven demand peaks: The regular falls in spring and summer are typically offset by stronger volumes, particularly from e-commerce, later in the year. This rise during peak season in the second half of the year, and particularly in the fourth quarter, has gradually increased with the growing B2C share in the past ten years. In terms of revenue, this effect is further amplified by seasonal surcharges, which have applied since 2024.
A global air freight network
Our global air freight network is operated by multiple airlines, some of which are majority-owned by us. The combination of our own and purchased capacities allows us to respond flexibly to fluctuating demand. The following graphic illustrates schematically how our available freight capacity is organized and offered on the market. Most of the freight capacity is used for TDI, our main product. If any cargo space remains on our own flights, we sell it to customers in the air freight sector. The largest buyer of remaining capacity is the DHL Global Forwarding business unit.
Service promise and quality
In order to verify the keeping of our service promise as a global network operator and to further improve it, we monitor the satisfaction and changing requirements of our customers, for example through our First Choice program and with the Net Promoter Approach.
At our quality control centers, we track shipments across the globe and adjust the processes dynamically as required. All TDI shipments are tracked until they are delivered.
We conduct regular reviews of operational safety, compliance with standards and quality of service at our facilities in cooperation with government authorities. Approximately 498 locations have been certified in accordance with the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) standards.
