Help with delivery issues – What causes a delay?

Your eagerly awaited parcel is stuck, and sometimes it can take several days before the tracking status changes again. Don’t worry – your parcel will arrive, but you’re probably wondering how such a delay can happen.

Most shipments are sorted and processed fully automatically in our parcel centers – up to 50,000 parcels per hour. This means that many shipments reach their recipient just 2 business days after dispatch.

However, if the sorting system cannot read or assign a required piece of information, your shipment may be misrouted or set aside for manual processing.

Below are some possible reasons why your shipment appears to have stopped moving:

• The address on the shipment is incorrect or incomplete (e.g., a typo in the postal code or a missing house number).
• The shipping label was filled out by hand and is hard to read.
• The shipping label has come off the parcel.
• The packaging opened during transport or was slightly damaged and needs to be repacked.

Please keep an eye on DHL tracking. In such cases, a delay of several days is possible.

When a parcel is shipped, it usually goes smoothly - and that’s true worldwide. Behind this are carefully organized processes. Here’s the journey of a parcel:

1. Pickup: Whether a parcel is dropped off or collected - our team ensures everything runs quickly and easily. Your parcel receives a label with a tracking number so you can follow it at any time.
2. Sorting: After pickup, your parcel is taken to our regional distribution center. This is where modern technology comes into play! Thanks to automated sorting, your parcel is directed toward its destination.
3. Transport: Your parcel then begins its journey - by truck, train, plane, or ship.
4. Final sorting: At the destination distribution center, your parcel is sorted once more and directed to the correct delivery area.
5. Delivery: Finally, the moment arrives! Our courier delivers your parcel directly to the destination, a nearby Packstation, or a branch. You can track your shipment status in real time and know exactly when it will arrive.
6. Delivery confirmation - all done!: After delivery, you receive confirmation that your parcel has arrived. In some cases, we ask for a signature to ensure everything is in order.

At DHL, we do everything to make sure your parcel arrives safely and on time, even though such long journeys can sometimes lead to issues. Thank you for trusting us!