What Does DHL Stand For?

What does DHL stand for, letter by letter?

Naming a company after its founders is common, but squeezing three surnames into three letters gave this one a short name that is easy to print on a van or a box. Other examples of names made from people's initials sit on the brand name acronyms list. The full phrase is almost never used today; even the company itself goes by the three letters.

How the company began

The founders spotted a simple problem. Cargo ships arriving in Honolulu had to wait while their paperwork, such as bills of lading, traveled by slower routes. If the documents could get there first, the goods could be cleared before the ship even docked.

So the early business put a courier on a plane with the papers, flying from San Francisco to Honolulu. The idea of rushing important documents by air ahead of the shipment grew into an international express service, and the routes spread across the Pacific and then around the world.

What DHL means today

Over time, a German postal and logistics group bought the company step by step, and the whole group now uses the DHL name. Its headquarters are in Bonn. The original three surnames remain the source of the letters, but most customers know DHL simply as a name on a tracking page, a delivery truck or a drop off sign.

DHL stands for founders, not German words

Because the company now has German owners, rumors pop up that the letters mean something in German. You may hear guesses that start with Deutsche, the German word for German. None of these are true. The name was chosen in California, years before any German company was involved.

A made up expansion that fits letters after the fact is called a backronym, and our guide what is an acronym covers why such stories catch on.

Saying and writing DHL

Say the letters one by one: dee, aitch, el. Capital letters, no dots. The opening dee sound takes a rather than an: "a DHL driver," "a DHL label."

• "The documents went by DHL to the office overseas."
• "A DHL truck stops on our street most afternoons."
• "Check the DHL tracking page for the delivery window."
• "The customs form came with the DHL envelope."

Shipping letters often seen with DHL

Shipping labels and invoices come packed with abbreviations. Here are several that often travel with the DHL name:

• ETA, estimated time of arrival, the expected delivery time.
• FOB, free on board, a term that says when the buyer takes responsibility for goods.
• SKU, stock keeping unit, the code a seller uses for each product.
• POD, proof of delivery, the signature or photo that shows the package arrived.