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Business View Caribbean
DHL Jamaica
Specialists in international shipments
Like many big companies, DHL Express, the worldwide
shipping company, began with one person who had
a very good idea. When Larry Hillblom was a young
law student at the University of California, he earned
some extra money by running courier trips between
San Francisco and Los Angeles, picking up packages
for the last flight of the day, and returning on the first
flight the next morning.
In 1969, Hillblom expanded his courier business when
the Matson Navigation Company, a cargo company
with container ships traversing the Pacific between
the west coast and Hawaii, needed a way to transport
its bills of lading faster than could be accomplished
by the U.S. Postal Service. Hillblom’s plan was to pur-
chase airline tickets for passengers who could take
these shipping documents along with their luggage,
and get them to Matson’s customers in Hawaii in time
to receive their freight when the ships arrived.
When other companies in Hawaii heard about this nov-
el way to deliver time-sensitive documents, Hillblom
was off and running. With two friends, Adrian Dalsey
and Robert Lynn, whose initials formed the company
name, DHL, he soon transformed his firm into an inter-
national delivery company and the first to offer over-
night service to its global customers. Today, DHL has a
presence in over 220 countries and territories, making
it the most international company in the world.
The Jamaica office of DHL was started in 1988 with
two employees. Its current General Manager, Donovan
