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Current information on the coronavirus  

Effects on shipping and delivery by Deutsche Post DHL

Current information on the coronavirus  

Effects on shipping and delivery by Deutsche Post DHL

Latest Update: October 26, 2020

 

Dear Customer,

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, we would like to update you potential impacts of the virus on Deutsche Post DHL dispatch and delivery services.

We generally recommend contactless delivery options whenever possible; this means specifying a Preferred location where our deliverers can drop-off your parcels, or addressing parcels directly to a Packstation.

Currently there are no restrictions to our mail and parcel service within Germany, and no restrictions to services provided at our retail outlets and DHL Paketshops.

The Robert-Koch-Institut provides up-to-date information on the latest developments regarding the coronavirus in Germany.

Download the Corona Warn App now and join in the fight against COVID-19.

FAQ

 

PRIVATE CUSTOMERS

Parcel volumes remain at a high level. In isolated cases, this can give rise to transit-time delays. We ask for your patience and apologize for any inconvenience in such cases.

There are no restrictions regarding the delivery of letters within Germany or our range of services in retail outlets and DHL Paketshops.

According to the expert statements familiar to us, the risk of Covid-19 spreading via contact with objects such as parcels is unknown. Only in a few cases so far has infection with the coronavirus via contact with objects been suspected. This also applies to items originating in regions where cases of infection had been reported.

For customers nevertheless concerned about the risk of infection when receiving parcels, we recommend contacting DHL to specify a preferred location where our deliverer can drop-off your parcels (www.dhl.de/wunschort).

Our objective is to protect our delivery personnel and customers from infection as much as possible.

We have therefore decided to change our delivery processes until further notice:

  • For items requiring a signature, such as registered items or parcels, we generally waive the requirement for customers to sign upon receipt. Instead, our deliverers will document successful delivery with their own signature.
  • As before, the deliverer will ring the doorbell and only then confirm delivery of the item.
  • This minimizes both the personal contact as well as the need for customers to handle the scanner and pen.
  • Alternatively, delivery of certain shipments must be documented by means of your signature on the item – next to the shipment number. Our deliverer will then photograph your signature on the shipment using the hand-held scanner.

To arrange contactless receipt of your parcels we ask that you contact DHL to specify a preferred location: www.dhl.de/wunschort

In order to protect delivery personnel and recipients, there will be no delivery attempt for COD items, items with additional charges, or with IdentCheck, the identity verification service (for DHL Parcel), at this time.

Effective immediately, these items will be brought directly to the retail outlet and must be picked up by the recipient or a person authorized by the recipient (exception: parcels with "ID Check" must be picked up by the recipient in person; no proxy option available).

The retail outlets provide better protection for employees and customers and allow for cashless payments. This applies to both payment orders and items shipped from abroad with customs duties due.

Options for receiving items

Drop-off location: Specify a preferred location on your property where our deliverer can drop-off your parcels.

Packstation: Have your items sent to a Packstation (parcel locker) near you. Please note that you must be a registered Packstation user to take advantage of this service. Use of our Packstations is free of charge.
Is your parcel already in transit? Redirect it now.

Shipping

To avoid contact as much as possible, you can order physical letter stamps, Internetmarke stamps (online postage that you print out yourself), and parcel stamps online (shop.deutschepost.de)*. Using DHL’s online franking service, customers can also purchase and print their own parcel stamps from home (dhl.de/online-frankieren). 

Pre-franked parcels can also be sent using our Packstations, with no registration required. To find your closest Packstation visit Postfinder

 

More information at www.dhl.de/kontaktlos

* Buy your postage online and have it shipped to your door for free until further notice

Please continue to make sure your box is emptied at least every 7 days. If this is not possible, e.g. due to quarantine or health reasons, your items will remain in your PO box.
In the event that your PO box is too full to accommodate any further items, we will be obliged to request that it is emptied. In line with standard procedure, you will be informed in writing in such cases and requested to empty your PO box as soon as possible in order to ensure our internal operational processes can continue without disruption. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many flight connections to be canceled, which in turn has sharply reduced transport capacities between China and Germany in comparison with pre-corona levels. This has also impacted goods from China, e.g., items ordered online and sent by mail for delivery in Germany by Deutsche Post DHL.

Delays of several weeks are unfortunately possible between the dispatch of merchandise by the seller in China and arrival of the item in Germany - even though the transit time information published online may state otherwise (e.g. in web shops).

Coronavirus tests (contents: samples taken from people or animals) can be sent as Groß/Maxibrief items (large/maxi letters) within Germany. As such, they can be posted in mailboxes. In the event proof of posting is required, this can be arranged in conjunction with additional services, such as Einschreiben Einwurf (registered mail for mailbox delivery).

In accordance with the requirements set out by the Robert Koch Institut (RKI), such items must be labeled as medical test specimens with the UN 3373 diamond and the text "B

Further information can be found under "Regulations for the Carriage of Dangerous Goods, Part 1A" (https://www.deutschepost.de/de/g/gefahrgut-versenden.html; Brief National).

RETAIL OUTLETS AND DHL PAKETSHOPS

For personnel or organizational reasons, the opening hours of individual branches and DHL Paketshops may unfortunately sometimes change at short notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will provide you with up-to-date information regarding possible alternative locations and opening/closing times on the internet via the location finder and on the move via the Post Mobil and DHL apps.

BUSINESS CUSTOMERS

To date, there are no major restrictions to our services in Germany.

As a result, there are currently no changes to our PO box, storage and forwarding services, or to our rerouting or bulk recipient postcode services.

  • Due to lack of storage capacity, businesses must continue to empty their PO boxes regularly (at least every 7 days). We apologize for any inconvenience.
  • If you have been forced to close your locations, you can set up temporary mail forwarding via Deutsche Post’s online shop ("Nachsendeauftrag wegen vorübergehender Abwesenheit") to redirect mail from your PO box address to a new address. This new target address cannot be the same as the street address on file with your PO box.
  • As before, you will be informed in writing in a timely manner should we be forced to temporarily close your PO box facility. During such a closure, items will be sent to your street address. Please excuse any delays in service during this time.

Additional information on rerouting and bulk recipient postcode services:

  • Please ensure that your mail is picked up on a daily basis. Please understand that limited storage capacity and resources prevent us from being able to store large amounts of mail at our sites over extended periods of time.
  • Rerouting of your daily mail ("manual rerouting") is possible to the extent our capacity allows, as long as a bulk recipient postcode (GEPLZ) and/or PO box are available at both original target address and in the target region. Lead time for this usually 3-4 business days.

INTERNATIONAL MAIL AND PARCEL SERVICES

International items may be subject to delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These may be caused by changes in transport procedures (e.g. border controls), changes in international transport (e.g. cancellation of previously used flight connections) and/or changes in delivery procedures in the destination country (e.g. quarantine or other protective measures).

If you plan to send items to international destinations, please consult this site for information on possible restrictions. We are updating the site regularly.

Current information on delivery to business addresses outside Germany:

Official administrative measures (e.g. the closure of businesses by official order) may lead to problems with the delivery of items to business addresses outside Germany (e.g. companies, retailers, public authorities, shopping centers etc.). The situation may arise whereby it is neither possible to deliver such items, nor to inform the addressees as to possible collection in a Paketshop. This may cause delays and unwanted returns. In light of this, we advise that you liaise with the recipient concerning the local situation to ensure that delivery is possible.

Information on possible restrictions on shipping international letter mail, Warenpost items, Päckchen and parcels.

Key

 = Dispatch currently possible.

 = Dispatch possible in most cases, with potential restrictions for specific regions.

 = Dispatch currently not possible. Please note that any items addressed to these destinations will be returned to the sender.

Country Status Details
Åland Islands  
Albania  
Andorra
  
Armenia  
Austria
 
Belarus  
Belgium  
Bosnia-Herzegovina  
Bulgaria  
Campione d'Italia  
Canary Islands  
Ceuta
  
Channel Islands  
Croatia  
Cyprus (excl. Northern Cyprus)  
Cyprus (Northern Cyprus)  
Czech Republic  
Denmark (excl. Faeroe Islands)
 
Estonia
 
Faeroe Islands  
Finland (excl. Åland Islands)
 
France (excl. overseas territories and departments)
 
Georgia  
Gibraltar
  
Greece (excl. Mount Athos)  
Greenland  
Hungary  
Iceland
 
Ireland  
Italy (excl. Livigno and Campione d'Italia)  
Kazakhstan  
Kosovo  
Latvia
 
Liechtenstein  
Lithuania  
Livigno  
Luxembourg
 
Malta
 
Melilla  
Moldova  
Monaco
 
Montenegro
 
Mount Athos  
Netherlands (excl. territories outside Europe)
 
North Macedonia  
Norway  
Poland  
Portugal
 
Romania
 
Russia  
San Marino  
Serbia  
Slovakia  
Slovenia  
Spain (excl. Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla)
 
Sweden
 
Switzerland  
Turkey  
Ukraine  
United Kingdom (excl. Channel Islands)
 
Vatican City  

 

Information on possible restrictions on shipping international letter mail, Warenpost items, Päckchen and parcels.

Key

 = Dispatch currently possible.

 = Dispatch possible in most cases, with potential restrictions for specific regions.

 = Dispatch currently not possible. Please note that any items addressed to these destinations will be returned to the sender.

Country Status Details
Anguilla  
Antigua and Barbuda  
Argentina
 
Aruba  
Bahamas
 
Barbados  
Belize
 
Bermuda  
Bolivia
 
Bonaire More
Brazil More
Canada More
Cayman Islands
 
Chile More
Colombia  
Costa Rica  
Cuba More
Curaçao  
Dominica
 
Dominican Republic  
Ecuador  
El Salvador  
Falkland Islands  
French Guiana More
Greenland  
Grenada More
Guadeloupe More
Guatemala  
Guyana
 
Haiti More
Honduras More
Jamaica  
Martinique More
Mexico  
Montserrat  
Nicaragua More
Northern Mariana Islands  
Panama  
Paraguay  
Peru  
Puerto Rico
More
Saba  
Saint Martin  
Sint Maarten More
St. Barthélemy  
St. Eustatius  
St. Kitts and Nevis
 
St. Lucia  
St. Pierre and Miquelon  
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
 
South Georgia / South Sandwich Islands  
Suriname More
Trinidad and Tobago  
Turks and Caicos Islands  
United States of America More
Uruguay
 
Venezuela
 
Virgin Islands, British  
Virgin Islands, US  

 

Further Information:

Bonaire:
Until further notice, parcel shipments to Bonaire (DHL Paket International) can no longer be accepted due to problems with transport, customs clearance and/or delivery.
Warenpost items and Päckchen products can now be sent again.
Letter mail items (i.e., documents sent as individual letter mail, kilo-rate mail, etc.) are also no longer affected by this acceptance freeze.

-----

Brazil:
Items (i.e., letters, small packages, Warenpost items and parcels) can now be sent to Brazil again.

  • For private customers: The only option available for sending parcels to Brazil will be via the Premium service until further notice
  • For business customers/contract customers: DHL Paket International items can still be sent until further notice. Please note that an international crisis surcharge of EUR 3.10 per kilogram (or part thereof) will be applied to each parcel.

-----

Canada:
Items (i.e., letters, small packages, Warenpost items and parcels) can generally be sent to Canada.
Until further notice, parcels will be transported to Canada by ocean freight only due to very limited transport capacities. Customers should not specify "Premium" parcel service and expect significantly longer transit times.

-----

Chile
Over the last few weeks, the transport market for the destination Chile has relaxed slightly and air transport capacity is once again available. As a result, we can partially resume service for merchandise items.

  • Service has resumed for letter mail items weighing up to 500 g and with a maximum thickness of 2 cm (i.e. documents sent as individual letter mail, kilo-rate mail, etc.).
  • Warenpost and Päckchen products are not available for shipment to Chile until further notice.
  • Private customers: Parcel service to Chile via the Premium service has been resumed until further notice.
  • For business/contract customers: DHL Paket International service is available until further notice. Please note that an international crisis surcharge of EUR 3.90 per kilogram (or part thereof) will be applied to each parcel.

-----

Cuba:
Because transport capacity to Cuba is considerably reduced at this time, only limited letter and parcel service is available at present.

  • Service has resumed for letter mail items weighing up to 500 g and with a maximum thickness of 2 cm (i.e. documents sent as individual letter mail, kilo-rate mail, etc.) with immediate effect.
  • However, service for parcels, Warenpost and Päckchen products as well as letter mail items weighing over 500 g or with a thickness of more than 2 cm is suspended until further notice.

-----

French Guiana:
Because transport capacity to French Guiana is considerably reduced at this time, only limited letter and parcel service is available at present.

  • Service has resumed for letter mail items weighing up to 500 g and with a maximum thickness of 2 cm (i.e. documents sent as individual letter mail, kilo-rate mail, etc.) with immediate effect.
  • However, service for parcels, Warenpost and Päckchen products as well as letter mail items weighing over 500 g or with a thickness of more than 2 cm is suspended until further notice.

-----

Grenada:
Service to Grenada for letters, small packages (Päckchen), Warenpost items, and parcels has been resumed, effective immediately.

-----

Guadeloupe:
Because transport capacity to Guadeloupe is considerably reduced at this time, only limited letter and parcel service is available at present.

  • Service has resumed for letter mail items weighing up to 500 g and with a maximum thickness of 2 cm (i.e. documents sent as individual letter mail, kilo-rate mail, etc.) with immediate effect.
  • However, service for parcels, Warenpost and Päckchen products as well as letter mail items weighing over 500 g or with a thickness of more than 2 cm is suspended until further notice.

-----

Haiti:
Service to Haiti for letters, small packages (Päckchen), Warenpost items, and parcels has been resumed, effective immediately.

-----

Honduras:
Service to Honduras for letters, small packages (Päckchen), Warenpost items, and parcels has been resumed, effective immediately.

-----

Martinique:
Because transport capacity to Martinique is considerably reduced at this time, only limited letter and parcel service is available at present.

  • Service has resumed for letter mail items weighing up to 500 g and with a maximum thickness of 2 cm (i.e. documents sent as individual letter mail, kilo-rate mail, etc.) with immediate effect.
  • However, service for parcels, Warenpost and Päckchen products as well as letter mail items weighing over 500 g or with a thickness of more than 2 cm is suspended until further notice.

-----

Nicaragua:
Service to Nicaragua for letters, small packages (Päckchen), Warenpost items, and parcels has been resumed, effective immediately.

-----

Sint Maarten:
Until further notice, parcel shipments to Sint Maarten (DHL Paket International) can no longer be accepted due to problems with transport, customs clearance and/or delivery.
Warenpost items and Päckchen products can now be sent again.
Letter mail items (i.e., documents sent as individual letter mail, kilo-rate mail, etc.) are also no longer affected by this acceptance freeze.

-----

Suriname:

Until further notice, parcel shipments to Suriname (DHL Paket International) can no longer be accepted due to problems with transport, customs clearance and/or delivery.
Warenpost and Päckchen shipments can now be sent again.
Letter mail items (i.e., documents sent as individual letter mail, kilo-rate mail, etc.) are also no longer affected by this acceptance freeze.

-----

USA:
At this time, transport capacities to the US are considerably reduced. In light of this, special measures are required in order to maintain mail and parcel service. Please note that effective September 15, 2020, we will ship some products to the US via ocean freight until further notice. As a result, very lengthy transit times of at least 25 to 30 days should be expected. For destinations in the western United States or in remote regions, the transit time may be considerably longer.

  • Documents:
    • Letter mail items weighing up to 500 g and with a maximum thickness of 2 cm can still be sent to the US. As a rule, such items will be transported via air freight.
    • Letter mail items weighing over 500 g or with a thickness of more than 2 cm can be sent again starting on September 15, 2020. As a rule, such items will be transported via ocean freight.
    • These conditions also apply for Dialogpost International and Presse International items.
  • Merchandise shipments for private customers:
    • Small packages and parcels without Premium Service will be sent to the US via ocean freight until further notice. From September 15, 2020, franking will only be possible online.
    • DHL Paket International with Premium Service remains available for faster shipping; in this case, items are shipped to the US via air freight. This product can be ordered online and in retail outlets. 
  • Merchandise shipments for business/contract customers:
    • Shipment of Warenpost items to the US will resume on September 15, 2020. Please note that these items will also be shipped to the US via ocean freight until further notice.
    • We will also be routing DHL Paket International Economy parcels via ocean freight. Effective September 15, 2020, we will no longer apply an international crisis surcharge for these items.
    • DHL Paket International Premium will continue to be transported via air freight, and an international crisis surcharge of €2.20 per kilogram or part thereof will be applied.
  • European business customers: 
    • Deutsche Post Packet products can still be sent as normal; no changes to service currently apply. Please note, however, that the prices for all Packet products have risen due to the current international crisis. These products will be shipped via air freight. Please contact your Account Manager in your European country office for further information.

These restrictions also apply to items being sent to Puerto Rico.

Information on possible restrictions on shipping international letter mail, Warenpost items, Päckchen and parcels.

Key

 = Dispatch currently possible.

 = Dispatch possible in most cases, with potential restrictions for specific regions.

 = Dispatch currently not possible. Please note that any items addressed to these destinations will be returned to the sender.

Country Status Details
Afghanistan  
Armenia  
Azerbaijan  
Bahrain  
Bangladesh  
Bhutan  
Brunei Darussalam