Postal operator Deutsche Post DHL has launched a new cross-border track and trace service for German vendors called Ländernachweis, roughly translated as ‘countries detection’.
DHL uses RFID tags attached to items to follow and register their cross-border transport and handover for delivery in the destination country. Both sender and recipient can view the shipping status of the item via DHL’s track-and-trace portal. The RFID tags can either be attached to, or placed inside, packages.
DHL’s new service is designed specifically to cater to the needs of business customers and small-scale senders in Germany. While these customers can already use Einschreiben International (international registered items) to send higher-value goods, they often have other requirements when it comes to the international shipping of less expensive mid-sized to large items.
Ländernachweis is available for 16 countries comprising Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, the UK, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and Hungary, as well as Switzerland and the USA. More countries are expected to follow shortly.
The RFID tags are the invention of STROBE, an International Post Corporation (IPC) initiative, and come in sets of 20 and 50 costing 19.00 (US$20) and 45.00 (US$48) respectively. The Ländernachweis RFID tags can only be purchased online from the Deutsche Post eFiliale, the post’s electronic retail outlet.
December 1, 2015