1969

1979 THIS WAS THE DECADE THAT SAW

DHL TAKE OFF.
Between 1969 and 1979, DHL grew
from a business with only
a few Customers and a handful of
employees, to a global organization
carrying more than 5.5 million
OF INNOVATION

shipments annually. The early years

were all about innovation; the
THE DECADE

business model was to open an

office wherever a Customer asked
for one.

Man first walks on the moon, 1969

 1969
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
In the early days, our Founders
personally delivered documents for
Customers between San Francisco
and Honolulu, creating DHL the
company and simultaneously
launching the international express
industry. Not a bad start…

EARLY CUSTOMERS
DHL’s first Customers were shipping companies Seatrain
Lines and Matson Navigation.
In the late 1960s, the shipping industry was running huge
container ships that required complex paperwork. DHL
couriers were able to travel ahead to deliver clearance
documents before the ships arrived at their destination
ports. By using the DHL service, the shipping companies
knew their shipments would be cleared through customs
quicker and as a result costs were cut dramatically.

FAST BANKING
Within two years, many financial
institutions and banks soon followed,
using DHL's overnight service to beat
the postal system to ensure faster and
more reliable transportation of
documents and cheques.
1970

HAVE CAR, WILL DELIVER

Nowadays DHL has a vast fleet of branded
delivery vehicles, but the very first was a
modest Plymouth Duster with a 5.6 liter
engine, owned by Adrian Dalsey. Many
miles later it was retired in the late 1970s,
having been used as a courier car, office
and even a somewhere to sleep.

63
 DHL
FACT
EXPANDING THE SERVICE
The incorporation of Document Handling
Ltd of Los Angeles was an important step
for DHL, and a big factor in its subsequent
growth. Service also opened in Guam.

DHL
FACT
By the end of the year, DHL had
40 Customers. Many of them
from the shipping industry. TICKET CURRENCY
DHL pioneered the concept of
on-board couriers by giving free
airline tickets to employees,
their families and associates in
return for them transporting
documents on flights.

DHL SEES GREEN

DHL’s distinctive green bags were
designed for carrying documents and
their increasing prevalence in airports
around the world symbolized the
company’s growth. However, when
Larry Hillblom had first presented the
large green bags to his colleagues, they
were appalled at his extravagance; in
those days it was felt any spare money
should be focused on growing the
service into new territories.

1971
BILLING ON THE MOVE
Incredibly, all DHL’s billing used to
be done by hand, by Marge Dalsey,
wife of Co-Founder Adrian Dalsey.
She would carry a portable
typewriter and do the billing in the
hotel room wherever the Dalseys
happened to be at the end of
each month.
DHL
FACT
EXPANDING THE SERVICE
A new station opened in Portland. The company
expanded to the Philippines. DHL’s Founders
personally selected entrepreneurs to lead the
move and this would become the strategy every
time the company opened in a new territory.

64
 A CAR, A PASSPORT, AND DID YOU
A WHOLE LOT OF 'CAN DO' KNOW?
When DHL began, the employment Marilyn Corral was employed
criteria was simple: own a car, a by DHL in 1971 and went on to
passport and be prepared to jump on become the effective CEO at a
a flight at a moment’s notice. If you time when it was uncommon
were a ‘Can Do’ person, who could to see a woman as a manager.
talk your way out of all kinds of
situations, you were hired. You might
have also ended up spending the
night at the house of a courier in
Honolulu while waiting for a flight
back to the mainland.

The first DHL office opened in

this 1902 building in Alakea
Street, Honolulu. It later
became a listed building.
1972

CUSTOMER-DRIVEN EXPANSION
Banks and especially Bank of America, SOUTH-EASTERLY SUCCESS
were the driving force behind DHL’s Following on from the Philippines,
geographic expansion into South East Asia. in 1972, DHL continued its
DHL was already shipping documents for international expansion into
BofA to certain areas of the Pacific when South East Asia and beyond, as
the company asked DHL to extend its services were opened in Japan,
operations to other territories including Hong Kong and towards the end
Singapore. It was so keen to have DHL’s of the year, Australia.
services expanded, that it offered to pay all
the invoices in advance. This enabled DHL
to set up operations there.

1973
REAL INNOVATION
DHL revolutionized express shipping
with a door-to-door service with one
all-inclusive price. Adopting a
philosophy of owning local operations
wherever possible ensured a seamless,
accountable service that was fully
responsive to Customers' needs. By
encouraging local decision-making, the
company’s revenues doubled almost
every year in its first two decades.

THE FIRST POSTAL REFORM

DHL
FACT
EXPANDING THE SERVICE
Stations opened in New York
and Houston. Express Services started
in New Zealand, Fiji , Taiwan,
65 Malaysia and Thailand.
In 1973, the Hong Kong Postmaster
General tried to close down DHL.
Larry Hillblom responded by teaming
up with influential Hong Kong
lawyers and launching a series of
initiatives to stay open. Eventually,
the Hong Kong government allowed
DHL couriers to operate without
further distraction.
 1974 PERFECT TIMING
In 1974, DHL really struck
it lucky opening a service
in the UK which coincided
with the North Sea oil
boom and the increasing
importance of London as
a financial center.

FURTHER EXPANSION SHIPMENTS

By now DHL had 114 vehicles Delivered 575,034 shipments
across the world

1975
SERVICE CENTERS
38 had been opened

SEEING IS BELIEVING
At the beginning, most of the sales in
Asia and the USA were handled
personally by Adrian Dalsey. Because
DHL was such a young company offering
a service people couldn't believe, he
used to give 30 days free of charge. This
launch offer, although expensive for
DHL, allowed businesses to see the
benefits of DHL for themselves, and was
one of the reasons DHL grew quickly
right from the start.

TIME FOR CHANGE

Larry Hillblom was the driving force
behind postal reform in the USA.
He championed the vision of offering
unique services to businesses that were
DHL value added and therefore different to
FACT those offered by the US Postal Service.
By lobbying Congress
EXPANDING THE SERVICE
on behalf of its
DHL opened up Continental Europe Customers, DHL
to its Customers with offices in ensured that the US
Amsterdam and France. Postal Service would
It also became the first express delivery not have a monopoly
company to open in the Middle East on US express
with offices in Tehran, Iran. shipments, or indeed
time-sensitive
documents.

66
 DHL
FACT
EXPANDING THE SERVICE
DHL Mexico started operating in Mexico City.
1977
In Aberdeen, Scotland, DHL opened an
office especially to serve the international oil
and natural gas industries that were
developing rapidly around the North Sea. In
1976
the USA, DHL was finally granted a license by
the Civil Aeronautics Board. In the Middle
East, DHL began a service to Saudi Arabia.

The first official, globally

recognized DHL logo was launched.
It represented three speeding boxes.

CUSTOMS COLLABORATION
As the business grew, DHL worked
closely with customs authorities
around the world to fight the
importation of illegal goods. The
first collaboration, built on Larry
Hillblom’s good relations, was in
Hawaii where shipments coming
from Guam, the Philippines and
later Asia, were cleared for entry.

1978
TROPICAL EXPANSION
DHL Island Airways expanded
its fleet of DC-3 and DC-6 aircraft
to include a Lockheed Electra
airplane. Between the Hawaiian
Islands, DHL became the largest
air cargo carrier, responsible for
shipping newspapers, perishable
foodstuffs and agricultural goods.

SMALL PACKAGE, BIG STEP

Until this year, DHL had exclusively
shipped documents. However, as
demand increased for delivering small
packages and regulatory control was
relaxed, DHL introduced its Small Parcel
Express Service (SPX), later to be known
as World Parcel Express (WPX).
DHL
FACT
EXPANDING THE SERVICE
In Europe, Italy and Switzerland opened. DHL started
servicing Scandinavia, using UK company Scan Courier
as an agent.
South America opened with stations in Brazil and
Venezuela. DHL also opened a station in South Africa.

67
 PROOF OF DELIVERY
Long before the technology existed for a global
telecommunications network to track shipments,
DHL devised a simple but ingenious system for
Customers. Affixed to each shipment delivered
throughout the world was a multi-page airbill.
On delivery, the recipient would sign the airbill
and the final sheet was then pulled out by the
courier and sent back to origin, where it was
logged and then delivered to the shipper. This
gave them a signed proof of delivery (POD) and
DHL an original signature, which was then
affixed to the Customer’s weekly invoice to
prove 100% reliability.
1979

COLOR CODED
DHL developed a foolproof way to avoid missorts
long before barcodes. Each sector had color-coded
pouches. Once sorted, any color could be easily
identified if in the wrong place and immediately
corrected. These iconic pouches were first introduced
in 1972 when DHL acquired Sea-Land's business. This
created a virtually flawless service. Demand rose fast
and DHL opened its own pouch factory in Hong Kong.

COMMUNICATING IN ARABIC
DHL designed and built the first prototype of
the DHL1000, its own word processing system to
accommodate both the English and Arabic languages.
The system was first used in DHL’s own offices and
proved so successful that it was sold to corporations
throughout the Middle East and Asia Pacific, with
training provided by DHL.

DHL
FACT

EXPANDING THE SERVICE

In Latin America, the Argentinian
office opened. And in Europe,
Denmark, Andorra, Spain
and the Canary Islands began.

68