Shipping Process 101 – A Complete Step By Step Guide

International shipping can often get a little complex and daunting with all the custom rules in the picture. How do you clear the custom procedures, from where do you get started, how do you know what goods can be shipped, and so on. With the many steps and procedures that come along the way, working with a competent express shipping company such as DHL Express, is the perfect way to make sure that the process is as smooth as possible. 

We, at DHL Express, make sure that you receive your shipment on time, undamaged, and at your door without any hassle. So, if you’re looking forward to learning a detailed step-by-step process of shipping a parcel from port to port, then you’re in the right place. 

Your step by step guide to shipping process

Step 1: Know your shipment properly

Start by understanding DHL shipping rate. Once that’s done, move on to noting down the details of your shipment. This includes knowing the contents of your shipment, its weight, dimension, and value. This will help you know the cost of your shipment as well as any additional expenses to protect your shipment, if it contains valuable or fragile items. Plus, it’ll also help you decide which DHL Express’s packaging product will best suit your needs.

Step 2: Give accurate information about your receiver

Giving valid and accurate information about your receiver is the next crucial step in the shipping process. This will help DHL Express identify an optimal route for delivery of your shipment until it reaches your doorstep. Moreover, creating the right address book of your receiver will prevent your shipment from getting lost through the many check points your parcel will travel within DHL’s network. Finally, before handing the shipment to the consignee, DHL’s friendly couriers will connect with the receiver to make sure that they are available to receive the parcel.

Step 3: Get your shipping documents ready

At DHL Express, we try and make sure that sending a shipment is as easy as possible. And so, unless it is specified by the shipper, each container shipping will only require one air waybill (AWB) and an invoice. In case you are shipping documents, then no invoice is necessary. Just make sure that you print the correct documents and attach them to the top of your shipment for easy access. This will help them to understand, whether you want your parcel to be handled differently from a regular shipment that is not easily prone to damage. So, your first duty is to create the right DHL air waybill with information such as:

• Sender and receiver’s mailing address, phone number, and email address. 
• A breakdown of the contents in your shipment – a description of each item and their quantities.
• Details of the shipment including their dimensions, weight, and number of packages.
• Payment for DHL Express’s services as well as the destination country’s duties and taxes.
• Whether the shipment is dutiable, the value of goods and their associated codes.

Step 4: Carefully pack your shipment

No! No one will take the responsibility of packing your shipment. While we, at DHL Express will make sure to that your shipment is handled with utmost care, the duty of packing will solely rest upon the shipper. Hence, do your best to safeguard your shipment both internally and externally. A quick tip for packing your goods to reduce the risk of damage is to make sure that your container does not have excess of empty space. This will make the items to move around loosely within the box and increase the risk of damage.

Step 5: Handover your parcel to DHL Express

Your next step is to make sure that your parcel is ready to be handed over to one of our nearest DHL Express Retail Stores. You can either self-lodge the shipment or request for a pick up at your convenience at no extra cost. To do that, you can either call our Customer Service team or via our shipping tool, MyDHL+.

MyDHL+ is an online, one-stop shipment management solution that allows the users to conveniently organise their shipments from end-to-end. Plus, it is customizable and covers all the shipping-related requirements and processes in one place. It includes:

• Getting the correct shipment rates 
• Creating the shipping invoices and labels
• Arranging for shipment pickups
• Creating sender and receiver’s address books 
• Tracking your shipments
• Viewing records of the shipping history
• Customizing shipping preferences

The best part is that it is intuitive, transparent, and efficient. All you need to do is just login!

Step 6: Let DHL Express take care of your shipment

And you’re done! Once your shipment has been handed over to our courier, you can sit back and relax. Our team will make sure that your shipment will reach its destination in the quickest way possible. You can track your shipment status by keying in the ten-digit DHL air waybill number.

So there you go, your ultimate step by step guide of the shipping process and how to go about it. The thing is, when you handover your shipment to DHL Express, in a way you’re dealing with specialists in international shipping and fast door-to-door courier delivery services. So, if you are new to international courier services or need advice for packing your parcel, then look no further beyond DHL Express’s shipping services.