DHL and Indian subsidiary Blue Dart are piloting a new hi-tech delivery van in the southern Indianmetropolis of Bengaluru to speed up logistics in the city and test how the vehicle operates in
emerging market conditions.The ‘Smart Truck’ pilot scheme, the first outside Germany, is designed to improve servicequality, cut costs, reduce delivery times and avoid CO2 emissions, DHL said.
Created by DHL Solutions & Innovations (DSI), the DHL Smart Truck is an “intelligent”pick-up and delivery vehicle that combines a number of innovative technologies including a routeplanner. Launched in Germany in 2010, DHL Smart Truck reduced number of miles travelled by 15 percent and length of average route by 8 per cent during its pilot stage, reducing both fuelconsumption and CO2 emissions.
Piloted by Blue Dart in India, the Smart Truck technology is designed to provide solutions tourban logistic challenges such as traffic restrictions, density and clogging, while ensuringenvironmental protection and fulfilling customer need for on-time delivery. These “ intelligent”pick-up and delivery vehicles compute delivery deadlines to calculate the ideal sequence forshipments, and use real-time GPS to avoid jams and optimise routings, thereby enabling flexibilityand last-minute pick-ups. This allows the DHL Smart Truck to spend more time on the road to performtheir pick-up and delivery services.
The Smart Truck technology also enables a more efficient sorting process by synchronising thedata and physical flow, while real-time communications and visibility of services avoid ‘missed’pickups and delayed deliveries. Together, this provides better customer service and a morecost-effective operation as a result of optimum use of vehicles with fewer wasted miles.
Jerry Hsu, CEO, DHL Express Asia Pacific, said: “DHL’s GoGreen programme commits us tocontinually address issues that affect the environment and seek innovative solutions to reduce ourcarbon footprint and provide better services to customers. In fast-growing, emerging markets suchas India those needs are critical and will grow more so as the world continues to urbanise andmega-cities proliferate. To ease congestion, improve services and cut pollution, we need solutionsthat will make a positive impact on the environment, such as the DHL Smart Truck.”
Anil Khanna, Managing Director of Blue Dart Express, added: “Adapating Smart Truck technologyto work in a city like Bengaluru will have far reaching positive benefits for our clients, thecity’s economy, the environment, and in the long-term for all emerging markets.”
He added: “The Blue Dart Smart Truck pilot, as it is known in Bengaluru, will cover allAsia-Pacific inbound shipments on five routes in the city, with the system sorting deliveries toreduce errors and increase visibility. This gives customers an accurate delivery time. Tosuccessfully launch the pilot here, we have made adaptations to the original system to additionallyovercome problems with consignees’ addresses and lack of postal codes.”
The Smart Truck solution was developed by DHL Solutions & Innovations in Germany togetherwith a number of technology partners. Dr. Keith Ulrich, Vice President at DHL Solutions &Innovations (DSI), said: “What matters most to our customers is absolute punctuality in pick-up anddelivery. We believe that as we pilot the system in more cities, and fine-tune the technology, thesystem will prove itself to be enormously valuable in fast changing cities in the emerging markets,and become an accurate planning tool for the megacities of today and tomorrow. By optimising routesand cutting CO2 emissions, DHL is also contributing to improving the quality of city life.”
DHL Express India and Blue Dart are already top performers in DHL’s annual global CarbonFootprint Assessment register, the company said. In 2010, DHL Express India’s CO2 efficiencyimproved by 7.2 per cent as volume surged, even though total CO2 increased by 13.9 per cent. Theimprovement was also driven by DHL Express India’s increased use of LPG instead of diesel forground transportation.
