Express and parcel operators in Germany yesterday reaffirmed their support for the plannedtrials of 25-metre long trucks despite political setbacks and revealed plans to switch more volumes
from road to rail transport.Under its Action Plan for Freight Transport and Logistics, the German government is planning along-term technical test this year of the so-called ‘long truck’ (‘Lang-LKW’ in German) toevaluate its potential and risks. Two of the ‘long trucks’ (20-25 metres, 40-44 tonnes) could intheory replace three standard-size lorries, according to the vehicle’s advocates. But criticsbelieve the vehicles are a danger to other road users.
These trials were due to be carried out on north-south routes in cooperation with eight of the16 federal states. But the south-west state of Baden-Württemberg is now likely to pull out of theproject under its recently-elected Green – Social Democrat coalition government. This has increasedspeculation that the overall trial might not take to the road.
“The CEP industry wants the long trucks,” Marten Bosselmann, director of the GermanInternational Express Association (BIEK) stressed at a press briefing in Berlin yesterday. “We wantto reduce three trucks to two, save on CO2 emissions and reduce traffic.”
The German government had committed itself to the trial project, he pointed out. “All ourmembers want to take part in the tests. We expect them to start in the summer.” One potential routecould be the A7 motorway running north-south from Flensburg on the Danish border to Füssen on theAustrian border, a distance of some 965km.
At the same time, the German CEP industry is determined to reduce its CO2 footprint, BIEKofficials stressed. Emissions had been reduced about 20% over the last decade by using moreefficient vehicles, said association president Gunnar Uldall. “We expect this reduction to becontinued in the next 10 years through better fleet usage and use of alternative motor technology.”An industry-wide CO2 reduction target, however, is unlikely since DHL is not a BIEK member.
Uldall rejected claims that the express and parcel industry was “greenwashing” its activitieswith environmental slogans. “All our members are making efforts to reduce their emissions withdifferent measures,” he declared. “There are not many industries that are working so intensively onthis subject as we are.” The road fleet of CEP operators was younger than of other logisticssectors, for example.
“There is a large ecological advantage by bundling transport (volumes). We are a good solutionto environmental questions,” he commented.
One initiative in this direction would be to switch more long-distance volumes from road to railtransportation. The association is in talks with DB Schenker, the Deutsche Bahn freight division,to offer “a fast product with guaranteed transport times” on a north-south route, Uldall revealed.This could involve expanding the existing Parcel Intercity service currently used by DHL, Hellmannand DPD.
However, initiatives over closer cooperation between CEP operators and DB have frequently failedin the past due to issues of insufficient rail product quality.
