Since October 2017, NexTrust has been trialling a sustainable commercial delivery arrangement for chilled products and fresh produce in the centre of London. The pilot aims to consolidate multiple deliveries of these products onto fully electric refrigerated (1 to 5◦C) vehicles to reduce congestion and toxic emissions in London.
Consolidation
NexTrust partners ELUPEG and Giventis have collaborated with shippers Solstor and Wincanton as well as the Food Storage & Distribution Federation (FSDF) and Paneltex to run this pilot in London. Currently, chilled products and fresh produce are loaded onto large articulated diesel vehicles (often only partially filled) at the Solstor depot in Crayford before being delivered to retailers or other food service establishments across London.
In the pilot scenario the orders are consolidated from these under-utilised large vehicles into a smaller electric vehicle which makes multiple drops on its delivery route around central London.
Initial results have been very positive – with the potential to remove 30% of commercial delivery vehicles from London’s roads and offering an environmentally friendly (>95% reduction in emissions) alternative for food distribution. Pilot participants are confident that this type of delivery service has the potential to revolutionise the delivery network in cities across Europe.
Source: NexTrust