DHL was founded in 1969, originally to provide a courier service from the Continental United States and Hawaii. In 2002 the company was acquired by Deutsche Post. DHL is known for its ability to offer a shipping service worldwide for both freight and packages. One of the reasons for this ability to ship truly worldwide is that, now being German owned, it can ship to Cuba, North Korea or Iraq as DHL is not affected by U.S. embargoes.

DHL owns European Air Transport, which acts as its air freight supplier in Europe. In the UK, these operations are carried out by DHL Air. DHL Air runs 22 Boeing 757SFs and operates from East Midlands airport, just outside Nottingham. In the U.S, much of DHLs air freight activity is carried out by Air Express International, the largest American air freight provider, which is part of the same group as DHL.

DHL operates as a provider in international express delivery, air cargo and freight and overland transport. Their operations include single parcel shipment, express document delivery and full supply chain management and execution.