Deutsche Post DHL | Disaster Response (DRT)

The DRTs provide logistics support such as unloading cargo planes and warehousing and inventory of the incoming relief supplies at no charge. Through their work, our teams make sure that disaster relief organizations can get warm blankets, food and medication to those in need effectively and quickly.

DRT training in El Salvador

Training: Regular training courses assure deployment readiness

We offer regular training courses for our DRT members to ensure that they are deployment-ready and able to meet UN standards at all times. These courses include training in disaster management fundamentals, warehouse management and any other focus areas identified by Deutsche Post DHL, the UN and the participating relief organizations. In 2012, more than 120 employees took part in a total of four DRT trainings. For 2013, we are planning at least one training for each DRT region.

Speedball: our innovative packaging solution for disaster relief

The Speedball is our packaging solution for aid supplies that need to be transported to people in regions made inaccessible due to disaster. One example would be supplies that have to be dropped from an airplane. Our local airport staff use these extremely durable, waterproof DHL courier bags to pack aid supplies that are meant for this type of transport. Conventional transport packaging such as boxes often are not robust or waterproof enough to withstand being dropped from an airplane. The Speedball can hold up to 25 kilograms of relief supplies.

Memoranda of Understanding

We currently have bilateral memoranda of understanding with 11 countries in disaster prone regions. With such agreements in place, future DRT deployments can be executed without bureaucratic delays. As stipulated in the memorandum of understanding, the governments can also contact us directly to request the services of our DRTs. No new memoranda of understanding were signed in the 2012.

Deployments in 2012

Deployments in Guatemala and the Philippines

In 2012, one of our DRTs was deployed to Guatemala. Over the course of the nine day deployment, 59 of our employees helped handle 70 tonnes of relief supplies. As part of a deployment in the Philippines, eight employees provided support to a local relief organization over a four day period.

Deployments in 2011

Floods - El Salvador, October 2011
Heavy rains in October led to floods and mudslides throughout all of El Salvador. 34 people died and nearly 50,000 sought shelter in emergency housing. El Salvador is home to more than 50 DRT volunteers, making it possible to deploy the DRTs in less than the usual 72 hours. A total of 58 DRT volunteers were on the ground over a period of 10 days. Mario Arévalo Meléndez, GoHelp Manager DRT Americas and Security Manager for El Salvador, led the deployment. " Experiencing first-hand how volunteer work can ease the pain of others in difficult times makes me proud of both my company and my team," says Arévalo Meléndez. "And it inspires me to keep on helping."

Earthquake - Christchurch, February 2011
An earthquake registering 6.3 hit Christchurch on 22nd February 2011. According to government reports, at least 166 people died and many thousands were injured. Many buildings in and around Christchurch were also either destroyed or severely damaged. Six volunteers from the DHL Disaster Response Team assisted New Zealand’s Red Cross and the Salvation Army during their two-week-long deployment to temporarily store and inventory donated aid goods.

Deployments in 2010

Floods – Pakistan, August 2010
What started as seasonal rains in late July 2010 became a disaster of historic proportions for Pakistan. By mid-August, the deluge had cost more than 1,700 lives and affected more than 18 million people according to expert estimation. Following our agreement with Pakistan's national Disaster Management Authority, the DHL DRT set up operations at the military section of Islamabad Airport, where the team of 30 DRT volunteers from 10 countries in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific received, sorted and processed relief goods for onward transportation. In cooperation with the World Food Programme, the team handled some 4,500 tonnes of relief goods during an extended five-week deployment. The DRT packed more than 2,500 DHL Speedballs – waterproof bundles of supplies designed to be airlifted to those in otherwise inaccessible areas.

Tropical storm – Guatemala, May 2010
On the last weekend of May 2010, Guatemala was hit by Tropical Storm Agatha, causing severe floods and landslides. The storm killed more than 100 people and left tens of thousands of people seeking shelter. Due to a volcanic eruption, the main airport in Guatemala City had to be closed. After the Government called a state of emergency, the National Coordinator for Emergency Disaster Risk Reduction (CONRED) asked for support from the DHL Disaster Response Team (DRT) Americas on 30th May 2010. A team of DRT volunteers deployed at La Aurora Airport in Guatemala City and set up a temporary, professional warehouse, including sorting facilities and made a full inventory of donated goods. Of the 450 DHL employees in Guatemala, 32 are trained DRT volunteers, and were released by their business units of DHL Guatemala for the deployment.

In 10 days, the DRT was able to manage 85.8 tonnes of aid and to pack almost 1,500 DHL Speedballs; these contained food and were sent to the survivors by truck and helicopter.

The DHL DRT signed a general Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CONRED in 2009. Once called on by the local authorities, the existing MoU gives the DRT the option to deploy swiftly and immediately set up the logistics needed to handle relief goods at the airport.

Earthquake – Chile, February 2010
One of the most severe earthquakes of the past 100 years, with a magnitude of 8.8, hit the Chilean city of Concepción on 27th February 2010. Experts estimate that around 500 people lost their lives and more than 500,000 homes were destroyed. The DHL Disaster Response Team (DRT) with 10 team members started to help the Chilean Emergency Agency ONEMI to transport relief goods on 5th March.

At the affected airports of Santiago de Chile and Concepción, the DRT organized the packaging of around 10,300 DHL Speedballs containing more than 206 tonnes of relief aid such as food, hygiene kits and blankets. They were supported by 65 volunteers from the DHL Chile country office.

In Concepción, the mission focused on supporting distribution on the ground. Eighty volunteers from DHL Chile transported the donated goods from Santiago to the disaster area on 40 DHL trucks. The trucks moved approximately 25 tonnes of material and household items on behalf of the humanitarian aid organization Hogar de Cristo.

Earthquake – Haiti, January 2010
The island of Haiti was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake on 12th January 2010, leaving behind 230,000 dead and more than 1,000,000 affected people, according to estimates. Within 48 hours of receiving the UN's request to deploy, the DHL DRT Americas, based in Panama, touched down and started operating at Toussaint L’ouverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince. Our DRT, with 10 DHL volunteers, was the first logistics team at the airport. In view of numerous logistical challenges, the DRT's skills at managing relief goods were sorely needed. More than 500 tonnes of relief goods were handled and temporarily stored by the DRT within the first week.

One week later, we moved our DRT operations to the Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Faced with similar circumstances and very poor infrastructure, the operation required exceptional logistical skills. Over the course of 30 days, 36 volunteers handled more than 2,000 tonnes of relief goods and managed a 3,000 square-meter warehouse for storing and sorting incoming aid for NGOs operating in the region.

Deployments in 2009

Typhoon – The Philippines, September 2009
Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) hit the Philippines on 26th September 2009, causing widespread flooding, and the DRT Asia-Pacific was deployed on 2nd October. The homes of nearly 1.9 million people in Manila and the surrounding areas were inundated by the flood waters, and hundreds of thousands of Filipinos were displaced from their homes.

Thanks to the DRT’s support, 450 tonnes of relief goods, including food, hygiene articles, water purification units, tents and tarpaulins, were unloaded, warehoused and prepared to be dispatched to those in need in the Philippines. Goods came in from aid organizations such as the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), USAID, the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. During the DRT’s three-week-long deployment, 20 DHL volunteers provided logistical support at Manila Airport in three rotations. Having signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Philippine Government in 2007, we had a formal agreement in place, which speeded up the DRT’s deployment procedures considerably.

Earthquake – Indonesia, September 2009
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, on 30th September 2009. Around 1,000 people lost their lives, and the city of Padang was badly damaged. The Indonesian Government issued an appeal for international help and following a request from OCHA, the DHL DRT was activated. Chris Weeks, DHL's Director for Humanitarian Affairs, DRT Asia-Pacific employee volunteers from Indonesia and Singapore, and further volunteers from the DRT Middle East were all deployed to support the handling of relief goods at Padang Airport for one week.

The deployment in Indonesia also gave DHL’s Get Airports Ready for Disaster (GARD) program an immediate test, as the pilot training exercises had only taken place in August. One of the men trained in the program, Mulatno Msi, the Logistics Director of the Disaster Management Agency, was responsible for the reception of relief aid following the earthquake and was able to directly apply what he had learned.

Tsunami – Samoa, September 2009
On 29th September 2009, the South Pacific island of Samoa was hit by a tsunami triggered by an 8.0-magnitude earthquake – the worst in 90 years. The earthquake caused waves of up to 7.5 meters, which pounded villages and tourist resorts, killing around 150 people. Two DHL DRT members provided logistics advice to the United Nations and the local authorities, and set up efficient relief operation logistics, concluding their deployment on 12th October. The Prime Minister of Samoa welcomed the team’s support and expressed an interest in signing a permanent Memorandum of Understanding with the DRT Asia-Pacific.

Hurricane – El Salvador, November 2009
Floods and landslides left more than 140 people dead in El Salvador after the late-season Hurricane Ida ravaged parts of Central America on 9th November 2009. Rivers burst their banks and hillsides collapsed under relentless rains, cutting off parts of the mountainous interior from the rest of the country. The DRT Americas supported the logistics of two warehouses, which were assigned to receive national and international help such as bottled water, construction materials, food provisions, clothing and blankets. Four DRT volunteers helped the local relief agency Civil Protection of El Salvador to set up relief logistics.

Deployments in 2008 and earlier

Hurricanes and flooding – Latin America, autumn 2008
A series of powerful hurricanes swept through the Caribbean during September and October 2008. Disaster Response Teams were requested to assess the need for logistics support in Honduras and the Turks and Caicos Islands in the aftermath. We helped local relief agencies to set up two warehouses and provided logistics advice to local personnel in the Caribbean and in Honduras. Then in November 2008, severe flooding in Panama affected tens of thousands of people, many of whom had to find temporary shelter in emergency camps. Drinking water and blankets were urgently needed. At the UN’s request, the DRT Americas took over warehousing and inventory management at David Airport in Chiriqui Province.

Cyclone – Myanmar, May 2008
Cyclone Nargis affected 2.4 million people in the Irrawaddy Delta region of Myanmar in May 2008, leaving the international humanitarian response facing significant challenges. But thanks to our track record with the UN, the DHL DRT Asia-Pacific was able to assist, coordinating 17 humanitarian organizations and UN agencies, and preparing 2,200 tonnes of aid for the relief agencies to transport to the affected communities.

Earthquake – Peru, August 2007
The southern region of Peru was struck by a violent earthquake in mid-August 2007. Within three days, the DHL DRT Americas was in action at Pisco Air Base. With the support of DHL Peru employees and local help, the DRT coordinated the warehousing and distribution of large quantities of supplies sent by national and international aid organizations, governments, churches, NGOs and private donors. The DRT stayed in Pisco for two weeks, during which time the team had trained members of the Peruvian civil defense (INDECI) to manage the warehouse and inventory on their own.

Earthquake – Indonesia, May 2006
More than 6,200 people died, 30,000 were injured and nearly 650,000 were left homeless after an earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Java in late May 2006. At the request of the Indonesian coordination agency for emergency aid (Bakornas) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the DHL DRT Asia-Pacific was mobilized to Solo Adisoemarmo Airport on Java. Within three weeks, 200 tonnes of supplies were transferred from 6,500 shipments containing primarily medicine, tents, blankets and food. The 14-member DHL team also trained workers to ensure supplies would continue to be distributed after the team had left.

Hurricane – United States, August 2005
For weeks in late summer 2005, Hurricane Katrina made headlines due to the havoc it wreaked on the Gulf Coast. The DHL DRT Americas spent two weeks at the Little Rock (Arkansas) Air Force Base to supervise the distribution of 2,370 tonnes of international humanitarian aid from 18 countries across the disaster area. Deutsche Post DHL contributed a total value of US$1 million to these relief efforts, including US$500,000 for services to transport emergency aid and for rebuilding the disaster area. The company and our employees also made in-kind and cash donations.

Earthquake – South East Asia, October 2005
When a violent earthquake struck Pakistan and northern India in October 2005, the extent of the disaster was not immediately apparent. Many of the 50,000 victims were living in remote mountain valleys which could not be easily accessed, and millions of people were left homeless. During the chaos of the initial relief efforts, UNO Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland called the situation a “logistical nightmare” the like of which the UN had never seen. Using DRT volunteers, DHL leveraged its logistics experience to ensure that international aid arriving on chartered flights could be transferred to the affected areas as quickly and efficiently as possible, and to keep Islamabad Airport open for further shipments.

Tsunami – coastal areas of the Indian Ocean, 2004
Within hours of the catastrophic flooding of coastal areas of the Indian Ocean in 2004, Deutsche Post DHL began organizing the logistics and transportation of humanitarian aid by leveraging its worldwide network. On the Thai island of Phuket, DHL vehicles shuttled tourists to safety and in India, they helped to transport federal police forces to the disaster area. The Airport Emergency Team – the predecessor of today’s Disaster Response Teams – was mobilized and sent to Colombo Airport in Sri Lanka. In the weeks that followed, Deutsche Post DHL and staff members contributed even further to the relief efforts. The company donated €1 million in financial aid and provided free cargo flights to the disaster area, and thousands of employees made further personal donations. A joint initiative by Deutsche Post DHL and eBay raised over €2 million.

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Disaster response program: "Disaster Response Teams"