DPD is expanding its successful city logistics concept in Nuremberg with a combination of micro-depots and deliveries by e-bikes to other German cities.
A year after the official launch of the pilot project in Nuremberg, 80,000 parcels could be delivered via cargo bikes, free from harmful emissions. With currently five electrically assisted transport bikes, it has been possible to almost entirely replace five conventional delivery vans, DPD Germany stressed.
Encouraged by this positive result in Nuremberg, DPD has already started bike deliveries in Heilbronn. Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Rostock and further cities will follow in the course of the year. In Hamburg, the company has been operating several electrically powered transport bikes since the beginning of 2017.
Since the start of the Nuremberg pilot project, DPD has increased the number of transport bikes in operation from three to five. The bikes are based at the so-called micro-depot in the city centre. It is a 130 sqm industrial area in the centrally located "Nürbanum" business park in the south of Nuremberg where parcels are delivered by van every morning and then distributed for further deliveries via bikes. For this purpose, the micro-depot is connected online to the DPD IT system. The batteries of the bikes are also charged at the micro-depot and the delivery staff always carry a replacement battery with them, especially during cold weather.
"In the dense traffic of the inner city, the transport bike has developed into a real alternative to conventional delivery vehicles,” Gerd Seber, Group Manager Sustainability & Innovation at DPD Germany, explained. "In view of possible impending access restrictions, the development of such sustainable city logistics solutions is becoming ever more important. Our positive cooperation with the City of Nuremberg indicates that shared operational procedures adopted by the municipality and parcel services are good for everyone – not least for city centre businesses and residents."
"Even in winter conditions we can fully rely on our transport bikes,” Torsten Mendel, DPD Depot Manager in Nuremberg, said. "However, operating entirely without conventional vehicles is not yet possible. We need the usual transporters not just to make deliveries to our micro-depot, but also to serve major business customers in the city centre."
If combined skillfully with conventional delivery vehicles, the transport bike has almost the same capacity as a van, under favourable conditions. In many streets of Nuremberg, deliveries can be made much more efficiently with the highly manoeuvrable transport bikes than with large vehicles, Mendel stressed. The transport bike is used, in particular, for those consignees who only receive one or two parcels a day, while stops involving a large number of parcels are served by delivery vans.
"Finding suitable and affordable locations in the city centre represents a decisive obstacle to the use of transport bikes, and we would therefore appreciate further support from the municipalities for this purpose. We hope that positive examples set by Nuremberg, Berlin or Rostock will act as a model for other cities,” Seber concluded.
