DHL Express Sweden invests in all-green distribution fleet
DHL Express Sweden has announced it will invest about EUR 800,000 for 250 vehicles running on alternative fuels within the next three years.
DHL Express plans to swap out diesel-powered vehicles from its own fleet as their leases expire, as well as to cover the additional cost of another 50 vehicles when any of the forwarders contracted to DHL switches to an environmentally friendly alternative. This follows the recent decision by DHL Express to convert all its diesel-powered vans to run on alternative fuels such as biogas, natural gas and ethanol.
The company said that the use of delivery vehicles that run on alternative fuels means a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 5-8 tons per vehicle per year. As the investment covers 250 vehicles, this is equivalent to a total carbon dioxide reduction of around 2,000 tons per year.
DHL Express Sweden currently has around 20 biogas-powered vehicles available, including 5 heavy trucks and 15 delivery vans used mainly to transport express shipments within metropolitan areas. The number of environmentally friendly vehicles is about to increase substantially.
“Every year we use the Swedish TKM model (the freight forwarders quality and environmental manual) to evaluate the 300 carriers contracted to DHL in this country. Given that we place these requirements on other carriers, it is only natural for us to practice what we preach. That is why the transition to delivery vehicles that run on alternative fuels seems like an obvious investment,” said Peter Hesslin, Operations Manager for DHL Express, responsible for handling goods up to 2.5 tons at around 30 terminals in Sweden.
Another major environmental effect of this investment concerns emissions of particulates and nitric oxide associated with jams in city centres. This is because particulate emissions from vehicles that run on alternative fuels are much reduced. But the investment covers not only DHL’s own vehicles but also diesel-powered distribution vehicles operated by the 300 forwarders contracted to DHL in Sweden. In this area, DHL is covering the additional cost of the transition to environmentally-adapted vehicles.
