DHL Parcel integration
Book DHL Parcel shipments in the Benelux and Germany from your consignments, with a label per parcel on the consignment and DHL tracking completing the pickup and delivery stops.
What is DHL Parcel?
DHL Parcel is DHL’s parcel network for business shipments to homes, businesses and service points. Transportial connects to two of its APIs: DHL eCommerce Benelux (DHL Parcel NL) for parcels sent from the Netherlands and Belgium, and the DHL Parcel DE Shipping API of Deutsche Post DHL for DHL Paket shipments from Germany.
Each is its own integration in Transportial, with its own credentials, services and tracking — a company shipping from both countries connects both.
What syncs between DHL Parcel and Transportial
- To DHL Parcel
Consignments → DHL Parcel shipments
When a trip forwarded under a capacity contract that uses a DHL Parcel integration is confirmed, each consignment is booked with the addresses, contact details and parcels from its goods. Planners can also book a consignment by hand from its Carrier shipments tab.
- To DHL Parcel
Delivery options (NL)
For DHL Parcel NL you choose the service: delivery at the address, mailbox parcel, evening or Saturday delivery, Expresser morning delivery, no delivery at neighbours, signature on delivery or hold for collection at DHL. DHL picks the parcel type from each parcel’s weight and size.
- To DHL Parcel
Products (DE)
For DHL Parcel DE you choose DHL Paket, Kleinpaket or Warenpost within Germany, and Paket International, Europaket or Warenpost International abroad. Every physical parcel becomes its own DHL shipment; if DHL refuses one, the parcels already booked are cancelled again.
- Into Transportial
A label and tracking number per parcel
One label per parcel is stored on the consignment, as PDF or ZPL, together with that parcel’s tracking number.
- To DHL Parcel
Customs data for international parcels
International parcels carry customs data built from the goods: description, quantity, weight, value, HS code and origin country. When DHL Parcel DE returns a customs document, it is stored with the label.
- Into Transportial
Tracking and stop completion
Status, events and the expected delivery come back on the consignment. The first pickup event completes the loading stop; once every parcel is delivered, the unloading stop completes at DHL’s delivery time.
How to connect DHL Parcel
Parcel carriers are switched on per platform: ask us to enable them for your Transportial account.
DHL Parcel NL: request an API key for your DHL eCommerce Benelux account — a user ID and a key — and note your account ID.
DHL Parcel DE: use your DHL business customer portal (GKP) user, your EKP customer number or billing numbers, and the API key of an app on developer.dhl.com with access to the Parcel DE Shipping API. Tracking needs a key for the DHL Shipment Tracking – Unified API.
Add the integration in Transportial with these details, a default service and the label format, and set a capacity contract’s communication method to it. Trips forwarded under that contract are booked when you confirm them.
Sync frequency and limits
- Shipments are booked when the trip is confirmed; consignments added later are booked on the next trip update, never twice with the same integration.
- Open tracking numbers are checked every 60 minutes by default — configurable per integration — until the parcel is delivered, returned or cancelled.
- DHL Parcel NL is tracked through DHL’s own track & trace, up to 20 numbers per call, without an extra key.
- DHL Parcel DE is tracked through the DHL Shipment Tracking – Unified API, one number per call. Its default plan allows 250 calls a day; numbers left over are checked on the next run.
- DHL Parcel NL has no cancellation API: an unused label is simply never shipped. DHL Parcel DE shipments that have not been picked up are cancelled at DHL when the trip is cancelled.
Typical use case
A Dutch e-commerce logistics provider delivers in its own region with its own vans and hands the rest to DHL. Consignments for outlying areas are planned on a trip under a DHL Parcel capacity contract; confirming the trip books each one as a DHL parcel with evening delivery, and the labels are printed from the consignment documents. Its German warehouse does the same with DHL Paket. Customer service sees each parcel’s status on the consignment, and the delivery stop closes when DHL reports it delivered.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need two integrations for the Netherlands and Germany?
Yes. DHL Parcel NL (DHL eCommerce Benelux) and DHL Parcel DE are separate DHL systems with their own credentials and products, so each is its own integration in Transportial. Both can be active on one platform.
Can I cancel a DHL Parcel shipment from Transportial?
For DHL Parcel DE, yes: shipments not yet picked up are cancelled at DHL, automatically when the trip is cancelled or by hand on the consignment. DHL Parcel NL offers no cancellation through its API; an unused label is never shipped, so just discard it.
Can I track DHL parcels that were booked outside Transportial?
Yes. Add the tracking number on the consignment’s Carrier shipments tab and Transportial follows it like a parcel it booked itself, including completing the stops.
Does Transportial book DHL pickups or returns?
No. Hand the parcels over at your regular DHL pickup or a service point. The integration books outbound shipments, stores labels and tracks; it has no returns portal and does not compare rates.
Connect DHL Parcel to your TMS
Transportial’s integration framework links your operation to DHL Parcel and any other system you run.