Logistics, German operator DACHSER to go zero emission in ten more European cities by 2025

German logistics company DACHSER is planning zero-emission delivery areas in ten more cities. According to DACHSER, the company’s Emission-Free Delivery concept for city-center deliveries, which started as a research and innovation project, has proven hugely successful. There are already twelve zero-local-emission city-center delivery areas for non-chilled goods in the DACHSER network at present, and further growth is planned: at least ten more major European cities are set to follow by 2025.

“DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery proves that we can make groupage deliveries for the last mile emission-free. What started as a research project is now an established part of our business operations, lighting the path to more sustainable city logistics,” commented Stefan Hohm, Chief Development Officer (CDO) at DACHSER.

DACHSER’s zero emission delivery strategy

So far, emission-free delivery of non-chilled parcel and groupage shipments has been rolled out in defined delivery areas in Berlin, Freiburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Dortmund, Copenhagen, Oslo, Prague, Strasbourg, Paris, Madrid, and Porto. These feature a variety of zero-emission vehicles, including battery-electric vans and trucks as well as electrically assisted cargo bikes, which are selected from a modular system to meet local requirements.

The bikes are specially designed for groupage and palleted goods weighing up to 250 kilograms. They start their tour at a transit terminal close to the city center, known as a microhub, and carry goods into busy pedestrian zones. The e-trucks in turn supply the microhubs with goods or, for parcels and pallets that are too large or too heavy for bike transport, deliver the goods directly to recipients.