DHL Global Forwarding has announced new features and updates to its digital customer platform myDHLi that would increase efficiency and offer more environmental-frienly options for shipments.

The myDHLi platform now also users to calculate the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of their ocean freight more accurately, as DHL developed an innovative ETA forecasting function based on advanced data analytics to predict the arrival of shipments in near real-time.

The feature, called Smart ETA, predicts arrival times up to 48% better than the information provided by the carriers. 

In addition, the platform supports customers' sustainability efforts by providing functionality to calculate and analyze their carbon footprint and also offering insetting and offsetting options to decarbonize their transport.

DHL said it also provides customers information to better understand drivers of carbon emissions to have a starting point for carbon reduction measures.

"We are constantly working to improve the platform for our now more than 10,000 customers ... Providing comprehensive decarbonization options and extensive CO2 reporting tools in one portal together with all other services is a step forward in offering our customers highly sustainable and transparent transport solutions," Tim Scharwath, CEO DHL Global Forwarding, Freight said.

DHL noted that updates to the Follow + Share tracking function now offer more configurable notifications that allow users to set general notifications for specific events such as status changes.

In addition, users now also have the option to set custom notifications that can be used to specify a trade lane or a transport mode.

DHL said the myDHLi customer platform was launched two years ago and thereby set a new benchmark in an industry that is still in its early days of being fully digitized.