The Mediterranean narrow streets of the old town, lined with clothing stores, boutiques, and souvenir shops, are perfect for holiday shopping trips. However, medieval architects did not take into account that making deliveries to these shops requires more space. The logistics operator Azkar, part of the Dachser group, has launched a pilot project in Malaga for deliveries carried out using electric vehicles.
– Azkar has a network of groupage connections on the Iberian Peninsula that operates according to a precise plan and in compliance with strictly defined standards. However, the local conditions of a coastal city over a thousand years old, such as Malaga, are resistant to modern logistics standards. To achieve maximum benefits from our network for local customers, we must use flexible, unconventional methods – explains Juan Quintana, Managing Director of Dachser for the Iberian Peninsula region.
Electric El Carrito
14 percent of all shops in Malaga are located in the old town district. The pedestrian zone, where access is restricted and there are extremely short time windows for deliveries, is large. And because customers in the city center expect the shelves in their local shops to be constantly fully stocked, this is a significant challenge for retailers and logistics operators. For this reason, the city authorities in Malaga decided to be the first municipality in Spain to implement the Urban Ecological Distribution Center project, which involves delivering goods to customers using electric vehicles. Fully loaded, with a speed of just 7 km/h and a turning radius of 1.65 m, “El Carrito” – like a draft animal in the past – moves through the narrow streets of Malaga’s old town. The vehicle in Dachser colors rests in a garage at night, where it is plugged into an electrical outlet to charge its batteries for the next day. Charging does not have to take place every day, as the 48V batteries of El Carrito are sufficient for 72 hours of operation. Shipments are first transported to the local Azkar branch. From there, the goods are transferred to the electric vehicle for delivery to the center of Malaga. The vehicle has small, secured compartments for storing shipments.
A pilot project meeting unique requirements
– Enough time has passed to be able to say that El Carrito has proven itself – explains Francisco Utrera, branch manager of Azkar in Malaga, part of the Dachser group. – Of course, the load capacity is limited and we have to deliver goods from the branch frequently. But at the same time, we can flexibly carry out deliveries to all shops in the city center using the electric vehicle, which our customers appreciate.
An additional advantage is the widespread interest that this unusual electric vehicle attracts among tourists, five days a week, twelve hours a day.