DHL consolidates 7 separate point solutions with Samsara’s integrated platform
DHL Supply Chain and DHL Express improved safety, streamlined workflows, and unlocked new insights with the Samsara Connected Operations Cloud. As a result, they are delivering a better experience for employees and customers.
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Meet DHL Supply Chain & DHL Express
Disconnected solutions restricted visibility and innovation.
With 600,000 employees, DHL Group is one of the largest logistics companies worldwide, serving more than 220 countries and territories. DHL Supply Chain, a division of DHL Group, oversees supply chains in more than 50 countries for over 1,400 customers — from warehousing to packaging, transportation, and beyond. DHL Express is the world’s leading international express services provider, meeting the growing demands of exporters and importers by connecting people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade.
Before Samsara, DHL in the U.S. was using seven separate point solutions for telematics and other functions, but they were difficult to connect and offered varied performance and data reliability. To better serve their employees and customers, they needed one integrated platform that could replace separate, disconnected tools with a single easy-to-use interface.
An integrated platform for safety, efficiency, and sustainability.
With the Samsara Connected Operations Cloud, DHL consolidated seven separate point solutions — for dash cams, telematics, compliance, trip management, DVIRs, trailer tracking, and speed monitoring — into one platform, and integrated Samsara with their critical business systems. This enabled them to deliver a better operator experience, unlock actionable insights, and vastly improve driver safety and retention. They are also partnering with Samsara in their fleet electrification journey, helping support DHL’s ambitious sustainability goals.
Fewer accidents, lower costs, and higher driver retention.
Across 20 sites where Samsara is fully deployed, DHL Express achieved a 65% decrease in harsh driving incidents, 26% reduction in accidents, and 49% reduction in accident-related costs. DHL Supply Chain has seen a 50% decrease in severe and heavy speeding and 50% decrease in mobile usage — as well as a 50% decrease in driver turnover.
LEARN MOREDrivers feel empowered and protected by Samsara.
“We have a tagline at DHL Supply Chain that we change the behavior, not the employer,” said Jennifer Miller, Vice President of Integrated Transportation. “We don’t want to turn our drivers over — we want to empower them to change their behavior and keep them in the family.”
With Samsara’s Video-Based Safety solution, DHL can coach drivers proactively on leading indicators. Every driver in the DHL Supply Chain network has a weekly “performance dialogue,” where they receive personalized coaching based on Samsara data. “We’ve really moved from lagging metrics on safety to leading metrics,” said Miller. “With Samsara, we're getting ahead of the behaviors that cause accidents.”
Gamification of safety through Samsara Driver Safety Scores has been particularly impactful, motivating drivers to self-correct risky behaviors before they become bigger issues. Because coaches regularly mark safety events as “recognized” to acknowledge drivers for taking appropriate actions, drivers trust the accuracy of their Safety Scores.
Drivers’ trust in Samsara is further bolstered by on-demand Video Retrieval, which has helped DHL exonerate drivers from not-at-fault accidents and false claims. This has been key to driver buy-in, transforming their safety culture. In fact, their drivers feel so engaged and protected by Samsara AI Dash Cams, many now prefer to drive vehicles with this technology.
“The two hardest things for any leader to change in their workforce are culture and behavior,” said Fred Matthews, Senior Manager of Safety. “What’s really remarkable about Samsara is the positive culture and behavior changes it enables.”
Partnering to increase vehicle uptime today and build the fleet of the future.
Because DHL is in the supply chain and delivery business, vehicle uptime is critical. Reliable diagnostic data, real-time alerts, and automated maintenance workflows have closed communication gaps and accelerated maintenance response times — keeping their vehicles on the road serving customers. In addition, with the Samsara Connected Operations Cloud, DHL has a platform that supports their transition to an EV-focused future.
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Next-level efficiency, made possible by industry-leading telematics.
By integrating Samsara with their two biggest maintenance providers, DHL automatically delivers real-time alerts for DVIR defects and engine fault codes to their mechanics. As a result, they have significantly increased vehicle uptime. “It’s huge for us that we narrowed our communication gap when it comes to diagnostics and repairs,” said Matthews. “Follow-through is significantly faster.” Similarly, automated IFTA reporting has been a game changer for their operators, increasing back-office efficiency by eliminating previously manual work.
A future-ready partner for fleet electrification.
DHL has a corporate goal to reduce their logistics-related emissions to net-zero by the year 2050. Electrification is a key component of their strategy, so they needed a partner that could provide EV telematics such as charging insights, battery health, and EV route planning. “With Samsara, we chose a technology partner that is ahead of the curve, with a clear vision and a focus on EVs,” said Miller. “When our EVs come online, we don’t have to add an additional vendor. That readiness is going to enable us to move faster in reaching our electrification goals.”
Complete trailer visibility. No additional vendors needed.
Cargo integrity is critical to DHL’s operations. With Samsara, their operators have complete visibility into trailer location, cargo, and temperature — all within the same platform they use for safety and telematics. This has empowered their operators to service customers better, investigate incidents faster, and accelerate theft recovery.
LEARN MOREA Smart Trailer solution that doesn't require an additional vendor.
DHL Supply Chain often transports high-value and temperature-sensitive items for their customers. With Samsara’s Smart Trailer solution, they have complete visibility into trailer location, cargo, and temperature. As a result, their operators can more confidently monitor cargo location and integrity for their customers. They can also investigate call-ins and cases of theft more quickly, protecting their assets and the DHL brand.
Because it’s all part of the Samsara Connected Operations Cloud, operators can access trailer information on the same platform as their telematics and safety data — without needing to switch between tools or interface with drivers in the field.
“We have deployed almost every type of Samsara device in the field — not just dash cams and telematics but also trailer tracking, temperature monitoring, and cargo monitoring,” said Miller. “It allows us to understand very quickly what’s going on across our operations, within one platform.”
A better driver experience, powered by intuitive workflows.
Before Samsara, DHL drivers had to manage dozens of different devices and apps for daily tasks. Now, HOS, DVIRs, and navigation are streamlined through the Samsara Driver App via custom workflows and seamless integrations. As a result, their drivers are empowered to focus on what matters most: servicing customers safely and efficiently.
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A seamless DVIR experience.
With the Samsara Driver App, DHL customized their electronic DVIR (eDVIR) workflow to walk drivers through each step — making the process easier and more thorough. Once drivers submit an eDVIR, their mechanics are automatically notified of any defects via integrations with multiple maintenance partners, eliminating communication delays. “The quality and ease-of-use of the Driver App has helped our drivers a lot,” said Miller. “It has not only simplified the DVIR process, but helped us reinforce why doing DVIRs properly is so important,” said Miller.
Navigation, simplified.
Before Samsara, DHL drivers had to manually type in every stop on their route to get directions. Now, they can simply tap “navigate” on the Samsara Driver App to access navigation for their entire route — a seamless navigation experience powered by Samsara’s integration with Sygic. “There's no extra work for the driver,” said Miller. “Something as simple as that changes the driver’s day.”
Innovation made possible by a flexible, open platform.
Data quality is critical to DHL’s operations — and Samsara data has become their source of truth. 19 integrations have streamlined their operators’ workflows and connected previously siloed data, unlocking transformative business insights.
LEARN MORETrustworthy data. Seamless integrations. Actionable insights.
Because DHL’s transportation management system (TMS) powers their global visibility tools for their customers, it’s critical that their data is accurate, reliable, and updated in real time. With Samsara, they have found a partner they can trust to be the source of truth at the heart of their operations.
“The ease of integrating Samsara data — and the quality of the data — is key,” said Miller. “Bringing all of our systems together with data we can trust has been a game changer.”
In addition to their TMS, integrations with Ortec for routing and dispatching, multiple maintenance partners for electronic DVIRs, several fuel card providers for fuel transactions, and Kronos for driver hours and payroll have streamlined workflows touching nearly every aspect of their operations. They also use Samsara’s open API to feed data directly into Power BI dashboards, which combine data from Samsara and other sources to shed light on trends across both divisions.
“As a result, we have unlocked truly transformative analytics and insights for our business,” said Miller. “It’s incredibly valuable to have a partner that enables this kind of innovation.”
