Germany's Edeka Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen has announced that it is testing sustainable freight solutions through a fleet of gas-powered trucks for transporting daily goods.
For the 12-month pilot phase, the retailer has rented 40-tonne trucks with a range of 450 kilometres.
The fleet is suitable for transporting goods in the 150-kilometre stretch between Gochsheim in Lower Franconia and Marktredwitz in Upper Franconia, Edeka said.
Externally, the gas-powered trucks are indistinguishable from their diesel counterparts.
'The Cleanest Technology'
Head of fleet management at Edeka, Alexander Tuks, explained, "By using a gas truck, we not only save up to 20 tonnes of CO2, but we also have the cleanest technology that is currently standard on the truck market.
"[It emits] up to 70% less nitrogen oxides, up to 96% less particulate matter and up to 88% less methane. The engine of the gas truck alone is four decibels quieter and could even allow us to increase overnight delivery through the Piek certification," he added.
The trucks are 25.25 metres in length and capable of holding a freight volume of 84 roll container spaces. This will save up to 250 trucks a year, per giga-liner, Edeka added.
In the future, the company plans to use up to 10 gas-powered giga-liners.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
