The German government has met key demands from the CEP sector in favour of longer trucks andelectric vehicles but there is still uncertainty over night flights and other issues, according to
top executives.Senior managers from DPD, DHL, TNT, UPS, Hermes and GO praised the government’s Action Plan forFreight Transport and Logistics, and especially the forthcoming large-scale test of ‘long trucks’and financial support for tests of electrically-powered delivery vans, during a politicaldiscussion at this week’s German CEP Congress in Berlin.
Under the Action Plan, which contains 30 different measures, the government is planning along-term technical test this year of the so-called ‘long truck’ (‘Lang-LKW’ in German) toevaluate its potential and risks.
Andreas Scheuer, state secretary in the transport ministry and the government’s logisticscoordinator, told the conference that the tests will be carried out on north-south routes incooperation with eight of the 16 federal states. Two of the ‘long trucks’ (20-25 metres, 40-44tonnes) could in theory replace three standard-size lorries, according to the government. Thelong-trucks are very different to the much-criticised 60-tonne ‘Gigaliners’, Scheuer stressed.
DPD Germany CEO Arnold Schroven stressed the potential of ‘long trucks’ to offer additionalloading capacity for long-distance transport in the CEP sector. Uwe Brinks, board member ofDeutsche Post’s Mail division, added: “We want to use these long trucks for transportation betweenregional hubs.” Thomas Kraus, head of TNT Express Germany, told the state secretary: “Everythingspeaks in favour of this (truck) and we must make progress.”
On the topic of night flights, Hans-Werner Gabriel, operations director at the UPS air hub atCologne, stressed their importance to the CEP sector. “The product we offer at present could not beoffered with a night flight ban,” he declared. The sector wanted the government to clarifyaviation law to take account of the economic need for night flights, he told the transport statesecretary.
Scheuer also praised the CEP sector for using environmentally-friendly delivery vehicles in citycentres, and highlighted the government’s €1.3 million financial support for ongoing tests ofelectrically-powered delivery vans in Berlin. “These measures are making deliveries cleaner.We are making progress with green logistics,” he declared.
Discussing city logistics, Hermes Germany sales and marketing chief Frank Iden called for goodsconsolidation centres on the edge of city centres to streamline operations but played down thepotential for competitors to co-load shipments on their delivery vehicles. “Hermes vans going intocity centres are full,” he stated.
CEP operators also said they are open to using rail transportation more if Deutsche Bahn canprovide quality services. “The potential for our industry is massive,” commented DPD chiefSchroven. “The CEP industry is ready to use rail but the quality and the price must be right. Therailway could not cope at present with our volumes. Many (firms) are willing but the implementationis difficult.”
DPD’s recently-launched test between Hamburg and Nuremberg was “functioning well at present”,Schroven said. Since last October DPD has been transporting by rail two swap bodies containingaround 1,500 parcels between the two German cities, saving about 16.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Deutsche Post’s Brinks said the company was operating a Parcel Intercity rail transport betweenHamburg and Munich but DB was not able to offer more services. Iden noted that rail transportationoften lost valuable time during loading and unloading at intermodal terminals.
The CEP Congress was organised by the DVV Media Group in cooperation with the GermanInternational Express Association (BIEK).
