Send a parcel from Bangalore to Chennai. We pick up free.
About 350 kilometres east down NH48 through Hosur, Krishnagiri, Vellore and Sriperumbudur — the shortest metro-to-metro lane we run, at 1–2 working days on surface and the same 1–2 by air express. Pickup is free anywhere in Bengaluru at 5 kg and above, from Electronic City and Sarjapur Road across to Basavanagudi and Jayanagar.
Pickup in Bengaluru, one overnight road leg, delivery across Chennai the next working day.
Pickup, Bengaluru.
60–90 minutes across the core city. Electronic City Phase 1 and 2, HSR Layout, Sarjapur Road and the Hosur Road industrial stretch are effectively on the way out of town for this lane, so pickups there are the quickest we do — a mid-afternoon call from Electronic City is normally on the night’s load.
Bengaluru sortation.
Straight into DTDC’s Bengaluru operation the same evening. This is a daily, high-volume corridor in both directions, and it is the one lane out of Bengaluru where surface behaves almost like express because the whole journey is a single night’s drive.
NH48 line-haul.
Out through Hosur, Krishnagiri, Vellore and Ranipet, past the Sriperumbudur–Oragadam manufacturing belt and into DTDC’s Chennai hub. One road leg, no transhipment, which is why 1–2 working days holds here on the cheaper service.
Chennai delivery.
Last-mile off the Chennai hub across the 600xxx series — the city proper, the OMR corridor and the western suburbs. Industrial addresses out at Oragadam, Irungattukottai and Ambattur are served but run on gate hours rather than city hours; see the note under tracking before you promise a plant a same-day slot.
POD on WhatsApp.
Signature or stamped receipt, forwarded to your WhatsApp within the hour of delivery. On a contract account we send a consolidated POD sheet at the end of each week instead, if that suits your accounts team better.
Starting rates, Bangalore → Chennai.
Priced on actual or volumetric weight, whichever is greater, plus the fuel surcharge in force on the day. GST is charged separately.
- Standard parcel (surface) from ₹120 / kg 1–2 working days. Min billable 5 kg.
- Express parcel (air) from ₹180 / kg 1–2 working days. Door delivery.
- Bulk consignment (35 kg+) from ₹120 / kg Min 35 kg. Surface routing.
Pickup is free across Bengaluru at 5 kg and above. Volumetric weight is (L × W × H cm) ÷ 5000. Note that surface and express carry the same 1–2 working day band on this lane — the honest answer is that most senders here should book surface and put the difference towards better packing. Between October and December the northeast monsoon is the one thing that can move that number.
Auto components, export paperwork, and the everyday B2B run.
Auto components and tooling samples
The heaviest commercial flow on the lane. First-article parts, machined samples, fixtures, gauges, gaskets and fastener lots going from Bengaluru suppliers to the assembly and tier-1 belt around Sriperumbudur, Oragadam, Irungattukottai and Ambattur. Small, dense, heavy — the one category on this route where you pay on actual weight rather than volume. Pack metal parts so they cannot shift; a loose casting will punch through a single-wall carton in one night on the road.
Export documents for the port
Chennai is a major export gateway and the paperwork does not always travel with the cargo. Original bills of lading, shipping bills, certificates of origin, inspection reports and signed annexures moving from Bengaluru exporters to customs house agents and freight forwarders near the harbour and along Rajaji Salai. These are the shipments where a missed day costs a vessel cut-off, so they go express with the recipient’s mobile on the AWB, no exceptions.
The everyday B2B run
Invoices and delivery challans, a replacement unit, a demo device, a service part, a signed PO. Businesses that ship to Chennai two or three times a week do not want to negotiate a price every time — we put them on a standing rate sheet with a fixed daily pickup slot and one monthly invoice. If that is your pattern, ask for a contract account rather than booking ad hoc.
Retail and garment stock
Bengaluru apparel units and wholesalers feeding shops in T. Nagar, Purasawalkam and the Chennai malls, plus online sellers replenishing a Chennai storage address ahead of a sale. Garment cartons are the volumetric case on this lane — light, huge, and billed on the box. Compress and band the bundles before the rider measures the carton and you will genuinely pay less.
Pongal and family parcels
Chennai and Bengaluru share a working population that moves back and forth constantly, and January brings a distinct spike — gifts, new clothes, sugarcane-season sweets and dry snacks going home for Pongal. Book those a week ahead. The lane itself is fast, but mid-January is the one week where the volume, not the distance, is the constraint.
Medical reports and case files
Chennai draws patients from across the south, and the paperwork gets couriered ahead of the appointment. Scans on disc, printed reports, referral letters, insurance pre-authorisation files and second-opinion bundles going to hospitals and consulting rooms in the city. Send them express in a rigid envelope, and put the treating doctor’s name and the appointment date on the AWB so the hospital desk knows where it belongs.
A short, real list.
Barred by DTDC and by the wider network. The second block is what actually comes back refused on a route that runs into an automotive and manufacturing destination:
Banned outright
- Liquids and semi-liquids of any description
- Aerosols, pressurised cans and gas cylinders
- Flammable solids, matches and lighter fuel
- Explosives and pyrotechnic devices
- Currency, bullion and precious stones
- Perishable food and anything requiring refrigeration
Common Bengaluru → Chennai misjudgements
- Engine oil, brake fluid, coolant and cutting fluid samples — the number one refusal on this lane, and always for the same reason: a plant asked for a sample and someone posted the bottle. Every one of these is a restricted liquid. The technical data sheet ships; the fluid does not.
- Paint, primer and thinner sample tins — sent alongside component prototypes for finish approval. Sealed tins are refused exactly like open ones. Send a coated coupon or a colour chip instead; it is what the approver actually needs.
- Airbag modules, seatbelt pretensioners and igniters — these are classified pyrotechnic articles, not car parts, and they are handled as dangerous goods across every network. They cannot move on a parcel booking at all, whatever the packaging says.
- Loose cells for EV and battery-pack prototypes — a real category out of Bengaluru’s hardware scene. A pack sealed inside a finished device is one conversation; a tray of bare cells or a partly built module is a flat no on both surface and air.
- Wet chutney, sambar paste and oily halwa — the food half of this lane. Dry podi, sealed murukku and packaged sweets travel fine. Anything with oil pooling in the container leaks under a night of road vibration and takes the neighbouring parcels with it.
AWB on WhatsApp. Track on dtdc.in. POD when it lands.
The AWB number reaches your WhatsApp as soon as the parcel is booked into DTDC, and the public tracker at dtdc.in will show you where it is at any point. POD follows within an hour of delivery. The one thing that trips up commercial senders here is gate discipline at the manufacturing estates. Plants at Oragadam, Irungattukottai and Sriperumbudur run their inward-material gates on fixed hours and many require a gate pass raised in advance against a named receiver — a rider arriving after the inward cut-off is turned away and the parcel comes back for the next working day. Give us the receiving department, the gate number if you know it and a mobile that answers, and tell your contact at the plant that it is coming.
Specific to Bangalore → Chennai.
Surface is already 1–2 days here. Is there any point paying for express?
For most shipments, no — and we would rather say that than sell you the air rate. Bangalore to Chennai is a single overnight road leg, so surface at ₹120/kg and express at ₹180/kg land in the same 1–2 working day band on the great majority of bookings. Express buys you three specific things. A later booking cut-off, which matters if you are calling us at nine at night. A firmer arrival when the northeast monsoon is active and the road leg is exposed. And priority handling on the delivery run, which is worth something when the recipient is a hospital desk or a port agent working to a deadline. If none of those apply, book surface. On a lane this short the saving is real and the day is the same.
Can I send oil, brake fluid or paint samples to a plant in Chennai?
No, and this is the most common thing we have to turn away on this route. Engine oil, gear oil, brake fluid, coolant, cutting and machining fluids, paint, primer and thinner are all restricted liquids on a courier network, and a factory seal does not change that. Nor do airbag modules, seatbelt pretensioners or igniters, which are classed as pyrotechnic articles rather than components. What does ship freely is everything else in a validation package — machined parts, castings, fasteners, fixtures, gauges, coated test coupons, colour chips, drawings and data sheets. If your consignment is mixed, tell us at booking. We will move the shippable part the same day and you can arrange a licensed hazardous-goods transporter for the rest, rather than discovering the problem when the whole carton is held at sortation.
Will the northeast monsoon hold my parcel up?
It can, and October to December is the window to plan around. The Chennai rainy season is the reverse of most of India’s — the heavy weeks fall late in the year, and in a bad spell the low-lying parts of the city and the southern suburbs take on water and riders come off the road until it drains. The line-haul from Bengaluru is rarely the issue; the last mile is. If you are shipping into those months, do three things. Book earlier in the day so the parcel makes the same night’s load. Ask for a waterproof outer over the carton, which we add free on request. And if the shipment is genuinely date-critical, book express so it comes in on the air leg and spends less time exposed at the road end.
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A real person at your Bengaluru door, in about an hour.
WhatsApp us the address and rough weight, or call the desk directly. Bengaluru is staffed 24×7, and on this lane a late call still makes the same night’s run — which is exactly why a parcel collected at ten at night can be in Chennai the next working day.