DHL aims to provide accurate delivery time forecasts for customers

Freight forwarder Deutsche Post DHL CEO Frank Appel spoke to a German regional newspaper, mentioning that the company plans to provide its customers near-exact delivery time forecasts by email in advance. This email message will be followed with another alert 15 minutes before the package reaches their doorstep, which is ascertained based on the GPS position of the delivery van. 

Appel stated that DHL has always sought to enhance its quality of delivery, which he said has improved significantly over the years. Nonetheless, statistics put forth by the German Federal Network Agency show contrasting figures, with the agency receiving around 12,600 written complaints against postal delivery companies – six times higher than the number of grievances a few years before. 

DHL has stayed true to its principle of ‘first-in, first-out,’ wherein the earliest received packages leave the facility and reach the addressee first. “First received packages or letters must always be delivered first. Even when there is an extremely high inflow of packages, nothing must be stored intermediately. So it is practically impossible that customers wait longer than necessary for a product or a letter. This was certainly the biggest annoyance for many people, whereas the delay of one day in times of very high shipment volumes has less importance,” said Appel. 

Appel contended that accurate delivery time forecasting would be the future of DHL deliveries. The company has already initiated test runs in certain regions to fine-tune the system, which is expected to be mainstream by 2020.