Business

Dangerous goods may only be shipped in limited quantities (LQ). It is mandatory to register this with your DHL account manager. We do not charge extra for shipping LQ goods. 

If you ship to a country with customs clearance, your shipment will be checked by customs in that country. Therefore, it is mandatory to include an invoice with your shipment. For specific information about documents when shipping to the UK, please check the Brexit information.

Do your customs forms meet all the requirements? 

• Print and combine all the documents for your shipment. This includes invoices, a copy of the shipping label, a tax reclaim form, certificates, export documents, etc.
• Keep the copies and attach the original documents to the parcel in a doculope (self-adhesive document-enclosed envelope).
• Do you not create your invoice in My DHL Portal? E-mail a digital copy of all the documents to [email protected].

Do your customs invoices still not meet the legal requirements? Go to our help with invoices and we'll quickly help you resolve the problem.

I need help with my invoice

This is the current fuel surcharge for DHL eCommerce:

• November 2025: 15.25%
• October 2025: 15.25%
• September 2025: 14.50%

The above surcharges are linked to the Dutch consumer price of diesel fuel (CBS publication) in euros. Taxes and duties, as measured by CBS, are included. The fuel surcharge is calculated on the transportation rate and transportation-related options and surcharges.

CBS website (Dutch)

Diesel price (In € per liter)

Due to the publication dates of fuel prices, we apply the surcharge in the following month. The CBS fuel price publication from (for example) mid-June therefore determines the surcharge for July.

DHL eCommerce reserves the right to change the fuel surcharge index and the corresponding table without prior notice.

Belgium, Germany, and Hungary charge a kilometer levy for freight traffic. In order to partly compensate these costs, we apply a surcharge. This surcharge is only applicable to shipments to, from, and through these countries. Different rates apply:

• Shipments to and from Belgium: 4.45%
• Shipments passing through Belgium: 1.96%
• Shipments to and through Germany: 5.90%
• Shipments to and through Hungary: 3.05%

If your pallets are shipped within the Benelux, we also return them to you. This takes approximately five working days. This service is at no extra cost.

Rolling containers

Do you have one or more rolling containers that are owned by DHL? Please use this contact form, and we will contact you as soon as possible for a pick-up.

If you'd like to plan a return shipment or a shipment for collection but can't print the shipping label, don't panic: Simply use the label printing service in our online shipping service My DHL Portal. You can print the return label yourself or we'll do it for you for a small fee. The label can then be attached to the parcel immediately.

We offer a return portal for business senders with a custom shipment solution. Discuss the options with your account manager.

 

If your parcel arrives damaged, contact our customer service department as soon as possible. Make sure that you report the damage to us within seven days of delivery. 

If your shipment did not arrive at the recipient's address, please contact our customer service department within fourteen days so we can advise you on what happens next. Make sure that you can accurately describe the goods and the packaging.

Parcels and pallets sent to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg will be delivered the next workday (with the exception of the Dutch Wadden Islands). For destinations outside of the Benelux, the delivery times depend on the country. See the list of delivery times per country below.

Delivery times in Europe

The number of shipments increases significantly during the holiday season. We take this into account and we hope that you do too, as your shipments may be collected or delivered at a different time. Exceptions such as delays are always displayed on your dashboard in My DHL Portal. If you want to plan ahead, see our holiday season planning and our end of the year planning. 

Benelux
End of year planning (to consumers)
End of year planning (to businesses)

International
End of year planning (international)

If you have missed our driver, they'll leave a card notifying you that they'll try to deliver again the next workday. If there's no one at home on the second delivery attempt, the driver will leave a card stating that you can collect the parcel at a DHL sorting center. You have five days in which to collect the parcel, after which it will be returned to the sender.

If you'd like to plan a third delivery attempt or have the parcel delivered to a different address, you can arrange this with the sender of your shipment.

Missed our courier options for consumers

If consumers are not at home when we deliver, we'll always leave a card informing the recipient how to plan in the next delivery time. Read more about our delivery options.