In 1972, mail-order company OTTO established a special parcel-delivery company, Hermes Versandservice, for this purpose. From then to this day, Hermes has worked with single-minded determination to cut delivery times and make them increasingly customer-friendly. Round-the-clock service, Saturday delivery, and delivery on a specific agreed day, all these things belong to the scope of services offered by Hermes parcel delivery service. And another achievement: no other parcel service unified West and East Germany so rapidly after the wall came down, as did Hermes: within half a year.

The relationship between Hermes and Mercedes-Benz vans began in 1972: after VW vans and Hanomag-Henschel vehicles, this was the year of the decisive change. "With the MB 206 D we had found just the right kind of vehicle which, together with all its successors, the 207, 208 (and also MB 100), and finally since 1995 the Sprinter, has determined the image of our fleet" according to the Hermes presentation brochure.

And it is also zest for innovation that makes Hermes and Mercedes-Benz ideal partners: on July 26, 2001 a field test involving Hermes and a fuel-cell Sprint began. Its objective: to speed up the moment when this environmentally compatible technology should be ready for series production.