DHL vs TNT: A Comparison

If you manage an e-commerce business than you know the importance of choosing the proper mail carrier. Here we’ll compare DHL and TNT to help you choose the best services.

Choosing the correct carrier is not just a search for the right supplier. It’s about identifying a serious ally that will help you deliver the best value and service to your customers.

The right carrier will satisfy your customers with the best quality, speed, and cost effective services.

Here’s a list of other carrier comparisons:

• DHL vs UPS
• DHL vs FedEd
• DHL vs DPD 
• TNT vs FedEx
• TNT vs UPS 

DHL vs TNT

Here at ShippyPro, we want to help you in your search for that perfect carrier.

In this article we will be analyzing DHL vs TNT’s National US services, National UK services, European, and international services.

TNT is based in the Netherlands and has been present in the international market for many years.

DHL vs TNT: National US Shipments

TNT is now FedEx in the United States. Thus, we will just be showing the DHL services in the table below.

DHL	TNT
Service	Delivery Time	Cost	Service	Delivery Time	Cost
DHL SmartMail Parcel	By end of 2-3 business days
DHL SmartMail Parcel Plus	By end of 2-3 business days
DHL SmartMail Parcel Return	By end of 1-3 business days
DHL Smart Mail Flats	By end of 2-5 business days
DHL SmartMail Bundle Printed Matter	By end of 2-5 business days

DHL’s US domestic services can be broken into three categories based on delivery time.

DHL SmartMail Parcel and DHL SmartMail Parcel Plus both guarantee delivery between 2-3 days. The only difference between the two is DHL SmartMail Parcel Plus has a maximum weight 25lbs while DHL SmartMail Parcel only has a maximum weight of 1lb.

Subsequently DHL SmartMail Parcel Plus costs a bit more.

DHL SmartMail Bundle Printed Matter and DHL Smart Mail Flats both guarantee delivery in 2-5 days. The only difference between the two is DHL SmartMail Bundle Printed Matter has a maximum weight 15lbs while DHL Smart Mail Flats only has a maximum weight of 1lb.

As a result, DHL SmartMail Bundle Printed Matter costs slightly more than DHL Smart Mail Flats.

There is also DHL SmartMail Parcel Return that easily handles return packages within 1-3 days.

DHL vs TNT: National UK Shipments

This table compares DHL and TNT’s domestic services throughout the UK.

DHL	TNT
Service	Delivery Time	Cost	Service	Delivery Time	Cost
DHL Domestic Express 9:00	Delivery by 9:00 am next business day		Next Day 9:00	Before 9:00 am the next business day
DHL Domestic Express 12:00	Delivery by 12:00 pm next business day		Next Day 10:00	Before 10:00 am the next business day
DHL Domestic Express	Delivery by end of next business day		Next Day 12:00	Before 12:00 pm the next business day
DHL Domestic Express Easy	Delivery by end of next business day once handed over to a DHL Service Point		Saturday Service	Same day delivery or collection from a local TNT depot is available

DHL’s UK services all offer next business day delivery with variations in time of delivery.

The options for time of delivery the next day are 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, by the end of the day, and by the end of the day once the parcel reaches a DHL Service Point.

Additionally, all of these services come with tracking and liability protection.

TNT provides quick and cost effective courier services within the UK. Their services can deliver the package the next business day with timing depending on how much they want to spend.

Next Day delivery guarantees delivery of the package by the next business day with the timing options 9:00am, 10:00am, and 12:00pm Monday through Friday.

If it is essential a package be delivered on a Saturday, TNT also offers Saturday Service. This provides same day delivery or collection from a local TNT depot.

DHL vs TNT: Europe

DHL	TNT
Service	Delivery Time	Cost	Service	Delivery Time	Cost
DHL Same Day Sprintline	One business day after the withdrawal		Express 12:00 Economy	By 12:00 pm on a specified day
DHL Express Worldwide	One business day after the withdrawal		Express 9:00	Next business day by 9:00am
DHL Express 9:00	By 9:00 am next business day		Express 10:00	Next business day by 10:00am
DHL Express 12:00	By 12:00 pm next business day		Special Services	The same day if possible
DHL Economy Select	By end of day in 1-4 business days		Express	By the end of the next business day
Express Economy	By the end of a specified business day

As you can see from the table above, TNT offers a wide variety of options in the European market.

The most popular options are their Express Packages. These are so popular due to their balance of reasonable delivery time and very competitive price.

Express Packages guarantee fully airfreighted delivery and are intended primarily for European countries.

The Economy Express 12:00 service is exclusive to the eurozone and is designed for greater convenience at the expense of prompt delivery.

The Economy Express service provides transportation to areas and lorries.

DHL ships to Europe using many of the same services it uses for international shipments. Express Worldwide is the most used service, reaching around 220 countries worldwide.

The Economy Select service is the most used service in Europe. It is a door to door service that allows to send single, multicolored packages and pallets in Europe.

The delivery is from 1 to 4 working days, with a weight limit of is 30 kg per package and volumetric weight of 200 kg per m³.

It is the cheapest service DHL provides for shipments in Europe, the service can be integrated with additional options to improve the quality.

One of these additional options is continuous monitoring, which allows you to follow progress of the goods from start to finish.

The Same Day Sprintline service is the fast road service that reaches the entire euro zone. The speed of the service does raise the cost, even if the distances are relatively short.

DHL vs TNT: International 

DHL	TNT
Service	Delivery Time	Cost	Service	Delivery Time	Cost
DHL Sameday Jetline	By end of business day via air		Express	By the end of next business day
DHL Sameday Sprintline	By end of business days via ground		Special Services	As soon as possible next business day
DHL Express Worldwide	By end of 1 business day from withdrawal		Express Economy	By end of defined day
DHL Express 12:00	By 12:00 pm in 1 business day		Air Freight	By end of 1-3 business days
DHL Express Envelope	End of one business day (documents only)		Road Freight	By end of 1-5 business days

TNT’s international service details are listed below.

• International Express Services are used to deliver goods to over 40 countries worldwide. Deliveries according to needs and price are scheduled by 9:00am, 10:00am, and 12:00pm with a maximum weight of 500kg.
• Air Freight Service is a convenient solution for large and less urgent international shipments. Choose the speed and the price according to your needs. We will keep you informed on all the transportation phases.
• Road Freight Service is a convenient solution for large national and international road freight. The advantage of choosing a dedicated vehicle for point-to-point, or groupage transport, is they can stop at different points, consolidate the merchandise, and make the final delivery in one elegant solution. 

Internationally, DHL offers a large variety of services with different costs and shipping times.

DHL provides many services, some as expensive as the Same Day service available both by air and by road.

WorldWide Express is the most frequently used service, with slightly longer times but at a lower cost.

The exclusive DHL Envelope service reserved only for documents, enables rapid delivery of documentation in approximately 220 countries around the world.

DHL vs TNT: Additional Services for E-commerce

Both companies have well-structured services that are full of additional options.

DHL offers its customers express delivery at DHL Service Points. These are authorized stores where DHL customers can choose to receive the goods.

This service allows the customer to pick up the package when it best suits them.

Specific industries such as fashion and food have their own special services.

DHL offers services designed for the fashion industry: DHL Express for Fashion offers solutions for the fashion industry and an ad hoc packaging, with an elegant and refined design.

DHL Medical Express manages the transportation of time sensitive and temperature sensitive shipments for the Life Science sector.

For non-perishable food products, DHL Express Food & Beverage packages and places these items in suitable packaging.

TNT has signed with Inpost a highly innovative strategic agreement. With this agreement TNT started the installation of the newest generation of automatic vending machines or Lockers. These allow the withdrawal and delivery of goods 24 hours a day, 365 days year. However, TNT only provides Lockers in Europe.

In the US the locker services are provided by FedEx.

At authorized stores, FedEx provides Pick up and Drop-off services that tracks the operation of UPS Access Points.

FedEx and TNT customers can receive and ship parcels from selected outlets, handle withdrawals, and purchase supplies to be received at designated points of sale. 

Lockers work exactly like an ATM and allow you to access your shipments within seconds.

When the customer buys online from a TNT-owned e-shop they can choose the Locker that is most convenient for delivery. As soon as TNT deposits the goods at the specified location, the customer will receive notification from TNT.

Then the merchandise is ready for collection.

Locker’s are a “win / win” option. For e-commerce companies and customers who want to say goodbye to home expectations and negative experiences, but also for TNT in terms of process efficiency.

For environmentally friendly businesses, TNT offer CO2 services.

These allow businesses to track, analyze, and reduce their CO2 footprint.

DHL vs TNT: Reviews and Considerations

We at ShippyPro operate in the e-commerce sector, especially in the field of online shipments. We are in daily contact with many domestic and international carriers.

Evaluating all the work of a carrier is not an easy task.

The one perfect carrier does not exist, however, there are certain carriers that are more suited for the needs of your business.

In this article we have introduced the main services of both DHL and TNT, used heavily at a national and international level.

We want to help you choose the ideal logistics partner for your needs, but there are other considerations we need to look at.

To do this, we will show you the only meter of transparent judgment we have; the reviews of our customers who use DHL and TNT daily to ship domestically and around the globe.

Below are the total reviews of the two carriers formed on the basis of daily feedback from our customers.

DHL vs TNT: Who do we choose to ship?

At this point you understand how difficult it is to determine which carrier is better than another.

It is well known that some carriers work better in some areas than others.

Now, considering that your goal is to provide the best customer service, there is nothing better than trying to enter into a contract with not one, but multiple carriers.

This way you will be able to offer excellent service in every area and every category of product.

Don’t limit yourself to a single shipping service provider.

Instead, look to choose different carriers each for a specific scope, significantly reducing asset management costs.

In fact, each freight forwarder charges very different tariffs in relation to the weight, size, and destination of the goods.

Compare and choose the best carriers for any type of shipping you make!

Comparing all these carriers is a time-consuming process, but there are services for managing the various shippers that can help.

It’s convenient to pick a software like ShippyPro, which automatically compares the prices of different vendors and allows you to set shipping rules, saving you time and money.

Connect DHL and TNT to ShippyPro

Integrate DHL,TNT and more than 120 Carriers in a few clicks and start printing shipping labels, tracking shipments and creating returns quickly and efficiently. 

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