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Global Forwarding, Freight

Air, ocean and overland freight forwarding services are the core business of the Global Forwarding, Freight division. They include standardized transports as well as multimodal and sector-specific solutions, together with customized industrial projects and customs services.

Our business model is based upon brokering transport services between customers and freight carriers. The global reach of our network allows us to offer efficient routing and multimodal transport options. Compared with the Group’s other Division, our operational business model is less capital intense.

Global Forwarding, Freight is among the three largest global freight forwarding companies in a market that remains fragmented. The key competitors of DHL Global Forwarding in air and ocean freight are DSV and Kuehne+Nagel.

Air, ocean and overland freight forwarding services

~45,000

employees

>200,000

customers

DHL employees in front of shipping containers

>115

countries

28 countries

already running customer interaction tools such as the myDHLFreight portal

>200

terminals and storage facilities

DHL air freight plane being loaded

High volatility in freight markets

The general situation in freight markets in 2025 was characterized by volatility and widely differing developments on the different routes. Particularly in ocean freight, the beginning of a fall in rates was evident due to high capacity.

The difficult macroeconomic environment continued to put European road freight under pressure in 2025.

  •  

    Asia Pacific

    Americas

    		Middle East/AfricaEuropeGlobal

    Air freight (m metric tons)1

    12.5

    5.3

    1.7        

    5.7

    25.2

    Ocean freight (m TEU)2

    45.7

    9.2

    3.7        

    10.3

    69.0

    1
    Data based solely on export freight metric tons. Source: WorldACD, as of February 2026.
    2
    Twenty-foot container units; estimated part of overall market controlled by forwarders. Data based solely on export volumes.
    Source: company estimates, CTS, as of February 2026.

Fundamental dependence on the global economy and geopolitics

With air freight, ocean freight and overland transport, our forwarding services cover all major modes of transport for international trade. Volume development in the Global Forwarding, Freight division is therefore fundamentally exposed to the general cyclical shifts in global trade flows and potential external influences, including changes in tariffs and trade agreements. Freight forwarding is provided through purchased transport services, meaning that the development of revenue and costs also significantly reflects the development of the relevant freight rates on the market. This increased volatility in revenue is set against the fact that the division’s business model does not require a significant transportation fleet of its own, meaning that little capital is tied up in its global networks. 

Seasonality of business

The Global Forwarding, Freight division is dependent on global trade volumes, which can fluctuate throughout the year. This seasonality is reflected by, among other things, shifts in freight rates and freight volumes and seasonally weaker industrial activity in summer. These factors regularly lead to weaker revenue in spring and summer. In both ocean and air freight, the majority of volumes are generated in B2B. A seasonal surge to stock up inventories therefore occurs ahead of the Christmas season, generally in the third quarter for ocean freight and in the fourth quarter for air freight.

Continuously improving products and services

We aim to design our services to be as user-friendly as possible in the Global Forwarding, Freight division. To do so, we systematically record customer feedback by using the Net Promoter Approach and conducting annual satisfaction surveys. Based upon the information received, we define initiatives and actions aimed at steadily improving our products and services. 

Our global network is geared to the highest sector-specific security standards, including TAPA certification and the US initiative CTPAT. Our global transport management system in the Global Forwarding business unit is highly scalable and enables seamless expansion of applications and processes. In the Freight business unit, too, we are increasingly standardizing transport management systems. We have customer interaction tools such as the myDHLFreight portal, which is already running in 28 countries. 

DHL Global Forwarding products & services DHL Freight products & services