TNT Express Germany increased the number of natural gas-powered vehicles in its fleet by over 50per cent to 89 last year. The company aims to double this fleet to about 200 vans in 2006. The
natural gas-powered vehicles are not owned by TNT but are operated by its independentsub-contractors providing delivery services for the company.After introducing the first natural gas-powered van in 1999, TNT Express Germany has built upthe fleet in recent years. In 2005, the number of such vehicles shot up by 51 per cent to 89, thecompany said. As many as 24 of its 31 depots across Germany now have natural gas-powered vehiclesin operation.
“TNT Express will continue to engage itself for new natural gas-powered vehicles in the years tocome,” declared Harald Kopp, the company’s local truck manager. “For example, by mid-2006 theentire city area of Berlin, and by end-2006 the entire Berlin conurbation area, will be covered bygas-powered transporters.” This would mean increasing the present 30 vehicles in Berlin to 45. TNTalready serves Dortmund purely with gas-powered vehicles.
By end-2006, TNT Express Germany aims to have some 200 gas-powered vehicles in operation acrossGermany. This would represent 12 per cent of its total fleet. The alternative vans are not onlyhybrid vehicles using both gas and petrol but also “mono-power” using just natural gas. The bulk ofthe TNT-coloured vehicles are mono-power Mercedes-Benz NGT Sprinter vans.
To encourage sub-contractors to operate such vehicles, TNT Express Germany said it subsidisesvehicle purchases with a four-digit million euro figure, and agrees cheaper prices with gassuppliers and petrol station operators. The company is also part of a German government programmefor environmentally-friendly goods distribution that offers state subsidies worth 10 per cent ofthe net purchase price.
Gas-powered vehicles would not be affected by the tougher restrictions on goods vehicles likelyin future due to EU regulations on particle emissions and traffic smog, TNT Express noted. Thecompany is also actively encouraging the extension of the German gas supply network for commercialvehicles to 1,000 locations by end-2007.
