DSV is a global transport and logistics group with a South African operation covering freight forwarding, road transport and contract logistics. The contact routes below were read from the DSV South Africa website on 31 August 2026.
Official contact channels
- Telephone, South Africa: 0861 462 884
- Online: the contact form on the DSV help and contact page
- Office finder: the Find a DSV office tool, covering more than 90 countries
DSV publishes 0861 462 884 as its South African contact number, presented on its own site under an invitation to get in touch with its experts. Rather than a menu of departmental numbers, it routes enquiries through a form with named quick links:
- Track and Trace
- Request a quote
- Careers and employment
- Owner drivers and subcontractors
Choosing the right quick link matters, because these route to genuinely different teams. Owner drivers and subcontractors in particular is a supplier channel, not a customer one – it is where transport operators offering capacity to DSV apply, and a shipment query sent there will simply be redirected.
What this organisation provides
DSV moves freight by road, air and sea and operates warehousing and contract logistics. Its customers are overwhelmingly businesses rather than individuals, and that shapes what the contact channels are built for.
This is the point most often misunderstood. DSV is a freight forwarder, not a consumer parcel courier. If you are a private individual waiting on a personal package, the company that holds your delivery is usually the retailer or the last-mile courier rather than DSV, even when DSV moved the freight earlier in the chain. Check who your contract is actually with before phoning.
Before contacting DSV, have the shipment, booking or waybill reference to hand, along with the origin and destination and the date the shipment was booked. For a quote, have the dimensions, weight, commodity and both addresses ready, since a freight quote cannot be produced without them. DSV publishes a glossary of logistics terms on its site, which is genuinely useful if terms such as LTL appear on your paperwork.
Address and operating information
DSV does not publish a single South African head office street address or call centre operating hours on its contact page. It directs users instead to the office finder, which lists its locations country by country – the right approach for a business with multiple branches, depots and warehouses, where the office handling your freight is the one you need rather than a head office.
The 0861 prefix is a national share-call number, reachable from anywhere in South Africa and charged at the operator rate rather than as a local call.
Support and escalation routes
Start with the branch or account contact handling your shipment, then the national number on 0861 462 884 or the contact form, quoting the shipment reference. Put anything involving loss, damage or delay in writing so the date of notification is recorded – freight contracts run on notification deadlines, and missing one can end a claim before it starts.
Because DSV contracts with businesses, disputes are generally governed by the terms of carriage you accepted rather than by consumer law. Liability for loss or damage is usually limited by those terms, often well below the value of the goods, which is why cargo insurance is arranged separately. Read the terms that apply to your booking before assuming full value will be paid.
Where an individual consumer has contracted directly with DSV for a service, the Consumer Protection Act applies and the National Consumer Commission is the escalation route. For a business-to-business consignment the remedy is contractual, and the route is legal rather than a consumer complaint.
Sources
- dsv.com South Africa site and help and contact page, read 31 August 2026