> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # International Express OTD, DHL InExpress > International Express OTD - the DHL flagship service promise. Customs friction is the typical breakage point. How to read it, why it matters, and how to ac... **Metrics type:** [Key Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Shipping & Courier](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) > International Express OTD - the DHL flagship service promise. Customs friction is the typical breakage point. ## At a glance > Share of cross-border DHL InExpress consignments delivered on or before promise. The DHL flagship service number for international shipments where the parcel crosses a customs border. Customs friction (HS codes, duties, IOSS) is the typical breakage point, not the carrier network. | | | | ------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `COUNT(consignments WHERE actualDeliveryDate <= promisedDeliveryDate AND destination_country != origin_country) / COUNT(consignments WHERE destination_country != origin_country AND actualDeliveryDate IS NOT NULL)`. Only international consignments enter the population. | | **`only_when: destination_country != origin_country`** | The card is filtered to cross-border lanes; domestic InExpress is covered by [OTD Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dhl-inexpress/on-time-delivery-rate). | | **Customs treatment** | InExpress includes customs handling (DHL clears the consignment with destination customs); time-in-customs counts toward total transit time. The card scores against the customs-inclusive `promisedDeliveryDate`, so customs friction directly degrades it. | | **Service-level scope** | DHL InExpress International Express service codes (the SME-tier cross-border product, distinct from DHL Express Worldwide which is the premium tier). | | **Time window** | `30D` | | **Alert trigger** | `<95%`. DHL's contractual SLA on InExpress International is typically 96 to 98%; warn at 95% reflects a meaningful service degradation. | | **Roles** | owner, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your DHL InExpress data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A UK premium beauty DTC merchant on Shopify, \~1,800 cross-border DHL InExpress shipments per month (UK to EU, primarily DE, FR, NL, IE, plus some US). Reading 12 Mar 26, trailing 30 days. | Lane | Volume | On-time | OTD | | ------------- | --------- | --------- | --------- | | GB → DE | 480 | 472 | 98.3% | | GB → FR | 360 | 351 | 97.5% | | GB → NL | 290 | 284 | 97.9% | | GB → IE | 240 | 232 | 96.7% | | GB → US | 270 | 245 | 90.7% | | GB → ES | 110 | 91 | 82.7% | | GB → IT | 50 | 38 | 76.0% | | **Aggregate** | **1,800** | **1,713** | **95.2%** | The card reads **95.2%**, just at the alert threshold. Three things to notice: 1. **The Italy lane at 76% is the headline drag.** Italian customs are the slowest in the EU on average; HS-code accuracy matters more on Italy lanes than on Germany lanes. Pair with [Customs Dwell Time by Lane](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dhl-inexpress/customs-dwell-time-by-lane) to confirm and prioritise HS-code review for Italy-bound SKUs. 2. **US at 90.7% is a separate problem.** Not customs (US customs is fast for low-value DTC parcels under \$800); typically a transit-time variance issue (DHL Express Worldwide is faster than InExpress for US lanes; SME-tier merchants often hit the InExpress / Worldwide trade-off here). 3. **Spain at 82.7% reflects volume sensitivity.** 110 parcels per month is a small sample; 19 misses can be 2 to 3 individual customs incidents. Read at 60-day window for the smaller lanes to smooth noise. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [On-Time Delivery Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dhl-inexpress/on-time-delivery-rate) | Aggregate domestic + international view. | | [Customs Dwell Time by Lane](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dhl-inexpress/customs-dwell-time-by-lane) | Per-lane customs friction; the diagnostic when international OTD slips. | | [Duty-Billing Mismatch Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dhl-inexpress/duty-billing-mismatch-rate) | Customer-trust corollary; mismatched duty bills accompany customs holds. | | [Exception Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dhl-inexpress/exception-rate) | The leading indicator. CUSTOMS\_HOLD events feed both. | | Cross-connector: [`shopify.refund_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/refund-rate) (filtered to international orders) | Downstream impact; international late-delivery refunds typically run higher than domestic. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in MyDHL+:** [MyDHL+](https://mydhl.express.dhl) → **Tracking → International shipments → Performance Report**. The closest like-for-like is *All Lanes, Last 30 Days, International Express service code only*. The portal also exposes per-lane performance under *Reports → SLA Tracker*. **Why our number may legitimately differ from MyDHL+:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | ----------------------------------- | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Lane definition** | Either | DHL groups by ISO country code; the card uses the same. Edge cases: Northern Ireland post-Brexit Trader Support is GB→GB for some products and GB→IE for others; verify per-lane configuration. | | **Customs handling time inclusion** | Same | Both include customs time in total transit; some legacy DHL reports separated it. | | **Time zone** | Edge cases | UTC vs portal account time zone. | | **In-transit treatment** | Ours rolling | Excluded from both numerator and denominator until terminal status. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | | ------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Customer-paid international shipping (commerce sibling) | Ratio of paid-vs-realised cost; cross-border shipping is typically a cost centre, not a profit centre. | | Per-country refund rate (commerce sibling) | Should correlate with this card's per-lane OTD. Italy and Spain refund rates run higher than Germany on most UK DTC stacks. | ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why is Italy my worst lane every month?** Italian customs are the slowest in the EU on average for low-value DTC parcels. Three contributing factors. (1) **Higher inspection rate** on cosmetics and supplements (Italy's customs algorithm flags more parcels). (2) **Provincial sortation** through Milan or Bologna routes some parcels via slower secondary depots. (3) **HS-code accuracy matters more** because Italian customs cross-references against EU TARIC tightly. Fix HS codes first; then evaluate switching Italy-bound parcels to DHL Express Worldwide for a 3 to 7 percentage-point lift at higher cost. **Should I be using DHL InExpress or DHL Express Worldwide for international?** Trade-off. InExpress is cheaper but slower with broader transit-time variance; Worldwide is faster, more reliable, more expensive. Most UK DTC SMEs use InExpress for EU lanes (where the time difference is small) and Worldwide for high-AOV or US-bound consignments where the OTD lift is worth the rate uplift. **Did Brexit change this number permanently?** Yes. Pre-Brexit, GB to EU was an internal Single Market lane; OTD ran 98 to 99% comfortably. Post-Brexit (1 Jan 21), every parcel needs a customs declaration; OTD baseline is now 95 to 97% even with clean operations. The structural drop is permanent; the variable is how cleanly you operate within the new regime. **My DDP vs DDU choice, does it affect this card?** Indirectly. DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means DHL handles destination duties for the customer; DDU passes that to the customer at the door, which often causes refusals and redeliveries. DDP typically lifts OTD by 4 to 8 points on EU lanes by removing the recipient-customs-handling friction. **The aggregate is at 95.2% but my Italy lane is at 76%. Should I be alarmed?** Yes for Italy specifically. Pin a per-lane panel for Italy; aim for >90% on that lane. The aggregate-level 95.2% is acceptable but masks a customer-experience disaster on Italy-bound orders. **Can I push DHL on this in a QBR?** Yes, with evidence. Bring this card's lane breakdown and the [Customs Dwell Time](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dhl-inexpress/customs-dwell-time-by-lane) card. DHL typically responds well to evidence-based requests for service credits, route changes, or HS-code review with their own customs team. The conversation goes badly when you bring an aggregate number and a complaint; it goes well when you bring lane-level data and a hypothesis. **Why is the alert at \<95% if my contract says 96 to 98%?** The default. Tune to your contract. If DHL committed 97% on InExpress International, set warn at \<96% and critical at \<94% so the card holds them to the commitment. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *International Express OTD* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across DHL InExpress and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.