DHL API Integration and Tracking

Nearly 5000 eCommerce companies and numerous retail businesses rely on DHL’s impeccable logistics services to serve customers worldwide.

Big names like Amazon, eBay, Samsung, Philips, and Walmart trust DHL’s failsafe express and global freight forwarding to conduct their every shipping needs. 

Needless to say, DHL has carved a foolproof place in the logistics industry for its high-quality services. In this article, we’ll discuss the less talked about aspect of DHL service, i.e., its API integrations and tracking.

DHL has developed well-built APIs for providing its tracking, shipping, and custom services to users. 

So, understanding DHL’s API integration and tracking can be a masterful stroke if you ship with DHL and want to score high on customer satisfaction. But, first, let’s take a brief look at DHL’s most celebrated provisions below.

About DHL and Its Services

DHL named after the last initials of its three founders- Dalsey Hillblom Lynn is a German logistics and supply chain services provider, operating in 220 countries. It’s best known for its express delivery and global freight logistics services. Though formed in 1962, DHL has kept up with the pace of time and initiated many services to facilitate eCommerce shipping. 

Here are some of its best-used utilities:

dhl api

1. DHL Express

DHL is an undisputed global leader in international express deliveries for same-day or next-day across 220 countries.

This service is open only for parcels and documents weighing up to 31.5 kg. It has a network of 320 express aircraft, a team of 4800 customs experts, and 100k+ certified international specialists to help B2C and B2B businesses offer on-demand deliveries to customers. 

This service comes with many perks like door-to-door delivery, a web-based shipping platform to schedule and track shipments, tailored business solutions, and volume-based pricing. 

2. DHL Global Forwarding

Serving over 1.67 million customers daily, this special arm of DHL is reputed as a major contributor to global trade for moving 2.1 million tons of air cargo and 3.1 million tons of ocean freight shipments.

This freight forwarding service utilizes ocean, air, and surface transportation. It also combines them into a multimodal model for balancing costs. 

3. DHL Supply Chain

The supply chain management arm of the company has positioned DHL as an industry leader in warehousing, contract logistics, and innovation. 

DHL has over 1600 warehouses strategically based in 50+ countries covering 17 million square feet of storage space. With over 188k in-house supply chain experts, DHL provides inventory management, warehousing, service logistics, transport, and lead logistics services. 

4. DHL eCommerce

DHL’s dedicated eCommerce fulfillment solution is dedicated to flexible, sustainable, efficient, and innovative fulfillment operations for its eCommerce customers.

A maestro in 3PL services, DHL helps digital-first brands scale fast by unlocking an omnichannel fulfillment, returns, and transport strategy for B2B and B2C enterprises.  

5. DHL Freight 

DHL has developed an intricate but expansive network of surface-level transport for freight shipping in Europe. This wing of DHL focuses on road and rail freight movement in 30 countries.

It primarily offers LTL (Less-than-Truckload) and FTL (Full-truckload) cargo shipping options for enhancing regional logistics. 

Details about DHL API Integrations and Tracking

DHL has an exclusive API Developers Portal as a single entry point to API for all its business clients. The portal catalog contains hundreds of APIs tackling every minute aspect of shipping.

However, DHL categorizes its APIs into three broad functions, and these are the ones we’ll describe below:

1. Tracking APIs

DHL concentrates supremely on real-time and accountable tracking of all shipments, freight, cargo, parcels, etc. that it delivers.

Its Shipment Tracking Unified API gives access to order status round the clock at the global level. It handles all shipping and delivery methods, including Express, Freight, Parcel, Letter Mail, etc. 

Next is the Deutsche Post International tracking API, which specializes in monitoring international shipments shipped by European business clients. Besides tracking, this API has another use case, i.e., creating shipping labels for merchandise, lightweight items, and international mail services. 

Its DHL Parcel DE Tracking is exclusively made for individuals and businesses to enquire about domestic shipments within Germany.

Similarly, its Mail Communication Tracking Push API focuses solely on mail communication services and is best used for sending daily mail order status updates to the business’s portal. 

DHL Express-MyDHL API is a multi-functional API created to amalgamate shipping, tracking, and information services.

So, apart from real-time shipment visibility, it also offers rate availability and shipping amenities for time-definite or priority international shipments. This API is available to brands having DHL’s Express customer account. 

Apart from creating APIs for express and mail deliveries, DHL has well-built API systems for global forwarding via its Push API, Shipment Tracking, and Shipment Status API.

All three of them are proficient in displaying the latest shipment status data while giving additional services like creating sales invoices for air and ocean freight. 

Lastly, its Track and Trace API is the only one built to offer Transport Order information at all times for clients opting for DHL Supply Chain and contract logistics solutions. It’s a customer-centric API available at the global level. 

2. Shipping APIs

DHL’s batch of shipping APIs are quick solutions to simplifying shipping operations like creating labels, online postage, rating, etc. DHL has created four APIs singularly for generating shipping labels. Deutsche Post International API. These are- 

  • Deutsche Post International for global mail, lightweight items, and merchandise for European destinations.  
  • The DHL Parcel DE Returns (Post and Parcel) for creating return labels for customers in Europe. 
  • DHL Parcel DE Shipping is available to Germany-based businesses to create shipping labels for domestic and international parcels.
  • Shipment Label API, an enabler of DHL Global Forwarding that generates DGF shipping labels for air and ocean freight. 

Apart from label generation, the shipping APIs handle other functions like online postage. The Deutsche Post Internetmarke API operates the purchase, payment, and creation of mail shipments including postcards, letter mails, books, and goods for domestic and international deliveries. 

Similarly, its eCommerce Europe API facilitates shipping for three specific shipping services under DHL- Parcel Connect, Parcel Return Connect, and Parcel Connect PLUS.

It is proficient in manifesting cross-border shipments from Germany and useful to large businesses conducting order consolidation in the form of direct injection shipments in Europe.

Next, its E-POST BUSINESS API is a special tool for business customers sending PDF documents as mail shipments with Deutsche Post’s E-POST service.

This unique API concentrates on tracking the PDF shipment from the moment it’s uploaded to its delivery. It is available to merchants who register with a Business Software Developer account. 

There are a host of other APIs dedicated to specific shipping roles like:

  • Order Management (AM) API for electronic order management of mail shipments for Deutsche Post AG service.
  • Parcel DE Postnumber for validating customer accounts for delivering shipments at DHL’s Packstation and parcel lockers. 
  • Print Mailing Dispatch Preparation API for calculating rates, creating shipping-related documents, placing/editing orders, and advertising. 
  • Print Mailing Targeting API that plans new customer target groups to enhance DHL’s print mailing marketing initiative. 
  • Shipment Booking API for global forward shipping via air, rail, road, and ocean freight transport modes.

3. Additional Services 

These clusters of APIs work for accelerating Blue Dart (a part of DHL Group) shipping services for India. Some of these are designed to offer certain value-added services. 

Let’s first take a look at the APIs that smooth the way for Blue Dart’s shipping operations:

  • Blue Dart-Alt-Instruction API updates directives for Waybill number, RTO of shipments, re-attempt delivery, escalation delivery, etc. for Indian businesses. 
  • Blue Dart Location Finder API is a customer-facing application that allows them to access information about Blue Dart office locations and available services.  
  • Blue Dart- Master Download API expresses pincode master changes and downloads incremental pin code changes for Indian locations.
  • Blue Dart Registration for Pickup and Pickup Cancellation APIs work towards registering pickup orders and cancellations respectively. 
  • Blue Dart Shipment Tracking API provides customers with the detailed status of their shipments, functional for Indian businesses. 
  • Blue Dart Waybill API provides an avenue for creating, updating, canceling, and importing Waybill and EWaybills for shipment manifestations. 

While the above-mentioned APIs are custom-built for Blue Dart shipping, DHL doesn’t neglect its global users when it comes to tailored business solutions for shipping, accounting, and other facilities. 

Take the case of its Unified Location Finder API which displays all pickup and drop-off points in Germany and the world. Or its Datafactory Autocomplete 2.0 API that automatically verifies customer addresses in Germany from initial entry. Or its Express XML API that quotes, rates, tracks, and ships priority express parcels globally. 

DHL has many such purpose-built APIs in store for additional utilities, but some of the most notable ones are mentioned below:

  • Duty and Tax Calculator API works with any carrier and calculates taxes, duties, tariffs, and government fees based on shipping rates for global shipments.
  • Freight Sales Invoice Push API offers sales invoices, correction invoices, and credit notes for global shippers. 
  • Print Mailing Automation API manages print-mailing campaigns including personalized mail designing and high quality printing. 
  • Warehouse Management API offers an interface to DHL’s WMS for its contract logistics clients. 

How to Get Additional Benefits from DHL API Integrations and Tracking

DHL is a global frontrunner in shipping and logistics expressing an avid mastery over innovation. Its wide array of APIs is a testimony of this proficiency allowing its users to get the best out of their shipping with DHL.

However, to get additional value, you can decide to use multi-carrier shipping that comes pre-integrated with DHL like Easyship or ClickPost

These specialized technology platforms can harness the existing capabilities of DHL and open new opportunities for you. For example, DHL does not provide EDD calculations. But, you can get access to exact EDDs that are based on ML algorithms.

Similarly, you can create a more personalized approach to customer communication using branded tracking portals and multi-channel delivery notifications. 

Conclusion 

DHL has a lot to offer to eCommerce businesses, and its API network is just the tip of the iceberg. However, knowing about its API and tracking capabilities will help you unlock hidden efficiencies in business and shipping operations. We hope that this article will be your guide in understanding DHL API integrations and tracking.