DACHSER, a global logistics provider, is taking another step in the development of its DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery concept. Porto, Portugal’s second-largest metropolis, has joined the list of European cities covered by the program. This means that deliveries of parcels and groupage shipments in specific areas of the city are carried out using zero-emission vehicles.
The first blue-and-yellow, fully electric DACHSER truck has already arrived in Porto. Since the beginning of March, it has been operating in the “invincible city” as part of a sustainable urban logistics concept, which is an element of the long-term climate protection strategy developed by the operator. – DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery involves making deliveries in selected parts of the city without pollutant emissions – explains Celestino Silva, Managing Director European Logistics Iberia at DACHSER. – This model has already won an award from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and will be introduced in eleven European metropolises by the end of 2022, with Porto being one of the first – Silva concludes with pride.
A zero-emission truck filled with parcels and pallets sets off daily from the DACHSER branch located north of the city to deliver goods to shops and private recipients in the center. For this purpose, DACHSER uses the FUSO eCanter vehicle, the only 7.5-ton fully electric truck on the market that is produced on a larger scale. With a payload of 2.9 tons and a capacity of 10 pallets, the FUSO eCanter has a range of approximately 120 kilometers, making it an ideal solution for shorter routes in city centers.
More environmentally friendly distribution
The pilot of the DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery program was launched in December 2018 in Stuttgart. Since then, the concept of sustainable urban distribution of groupage shipments has been continuously developed and has already been implemented in Freiburg, Germany, Oslo, Norway, and Prague, Czech Republic. Madrid, Spain, will soon be added to this list. By the end of 2022, DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery will cover a total of eleven European cities. This is one of many actions that DACHSER plans to implement in the coming years as part of its long-term climate protection strategy.
Sustainable logistics
– DACHSER is strongly committed to climate protection and takes an active approach to this topic by implementing a strategy that focuses on energy efficiency and the optimization of production and logistics processes, as well as innovation and shared responsibility – stated Silva.
Thanks to the innovative DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery concept, the logistics operator carries out deliveries of goods in city centers exclusively using vehicles with zero air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions and lower noise levels. To this end, DACHSER plans to expand its fleet with more electric vehicles along with charging stations and will participate in tests of hydrogen-powered trucks. At the same time, the company is doubling its efforts to make the most efficient use of cargo space. Since the beginning of this year, DACHSER has been purchasing electricity from renewable sources, gradually increasing its share from approximately 60% to 100% globally. The operator also plans to significantly intensify the generation of energy from renewable sources in-house by installing and expanding photovoltaic systems on the roofs of its logistics facilities and office buildings in Europe.
Source: DACHSER