Competitors DHL, DPD, GLS, Hermes and UPS have successfully tested joint use of a micro-depot in Berlin in a unique city logistics collaboration project.
In the urban logistics pilot project "KoMoDo", the five parcel delivery companies teamed in June 2018 to test last-mile parcel deliveries using micro depots and cargo bikes in Berlin for one year. The project’s aim was to test sustainable solutions for deliveries in urban areas and to develop transferable solutions for other municipalities.
The five companies, the German Parcels & Express Logistics Association (BIEK) and Berlin city authorities have now presented a positive picture of the project’s results and announced that it will continue for a further six months.
KoMoDo’s twelve-month test phase showed that the joint use of a micro-depot location by several parcel service providers works – if certain conditions are met, they said. In particular, the field test has shown that micro-depots can be used efficiently in areas with a high density of recipients and a freight structure suitable for cargo bikes.
Moreover, the use of cargo bikes on the last mile is environmentally friendly, as delivery routes can be covered by the mainly electrically supported cargo bikes instead of conventional delivery vehicles. The bikes can operate within a radius of up to 3 km around the micro-depot location in the city’s Prenzlauer Berg district.
With up to 11 cargo bikes in use every day, the eco-friendly bikes were able to save around eleven tons of CO2 compared to conventional delivery vehicles. All in all, a total of over 38,000 km were covered.
In addition, in the past twelve months around 160,000 parcels have been delivered by the five largest parcel service providers in Germany using cargo bikes. The participating delivery companies were able to continuously increase the delivered parcel volumes during the course of the project.
The testing phase further showed that in densely populated inner cities, public spaces should be used particularly cooperatively as they can be a scarce commodity. Through the use of micro-deposits and cargo bikes, both cities and businesses can benefit and thus design the last mile to match each city’s conditions.
For the parcel service providers involved, the project further offered the opportunity to test parcel delivery with cargo bikes from micro-depots in Berlin. The parcel service providers’ conclusion is that the micro-depot model has basically proven itself. Therefore the project partners are interested in further consolidating the micro-depot approach.
Even after the end of public funding (1 July 2019), the parcel service providers involved will continue to use the current location for another six-month period for delivery via cargo bikes. The Berlin-Pankow district has already approved the extended use of space for this purpose.
In addition, Berlin’s Department for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection, together with the districts and city-depot operator BEHALA, will search for suitable locations for additional micro-depots in Berlin on the basis of the project results.
Regine Günther, Berlin’s Senator for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection, said that the practical test has impressively shown how modern, environmentally and climate-friendly delivery transport can work. According to her, micro-depots and cargo bikes can be an efficient solution for the last mile of parcel deliveries.
Klaus-G. Lichtfuß, Head of Logistics at Berliner Hafen- und Lagerhausgesellschaft (BEHALA), explained that as a neutral operator of micro-depot facilities, the company was able to provide different parcel service providers with separate parts of the micro-depot and thereby enable climate-neutral and sustainable delivery from one central point.
Marc Rüffer, Department Manager Operations at DHL Parcel Germany, said that as market leader, the company see it as its responsibility to develop innovative and sustainable future solutions in parcel delivery. DHL used the KoMoDo pilot project very intensively and concluded that delivery in the inner city areas by cargo bikes is an attractive alternative, because it is effective, agile and ecologically sensible.
He added that DHL will continue using the micro-depot in Prenzlauer Berg and is in talks with the Berlin Senate about the possibility of testing further locations. Nonetheless it is also clear to the company that with cargo bikes alone, the rising shipment volumes in a metropolis like Berlin cannot be handled. Therefore, they will continue to focus primarily on expanding their electric van fleet with the StreetScooter. In Berlin and Brandenburg alone, around 450 StreetScooters are already in use today. By 2050, DHL wants to not just deliver completely emission-free, the company also wants to reduce all of their logistics-related emissions to zero.
Gerd Seber, DPD Germany’s Group Manager for Sustainability & Innovation, commented on the experiences made in Berlin that under favorable conditions, a cargo bike in the delivery area can be just as efficient as a conventional van. According to Seber, logistics space in the city center is a crucial factor for operations. The KoMoDo project has shown that the cross-supplier use of such areas can also work very well in everyday practice.
Marc Baumgarte, Region Manager Germany East at GLS, said that the KoMoDo project has provided the company with valuable insights for the further development of their activities around Berlin. Moreover, GLS has already extended its eBike delivery to Berlin Mitte.
Michael Peuker, KoMoDo project manager at Hermes Germany, said that through KoMoDo, the company has delivered 58,000 packages without emissions and reduced their fleet of five classic delivery vans to only three remaining in operation. According to Peuker, the cargo bikes go well with the mobility concept of Hermes, called Urban Blue, which has the goal of wanting to supply the 80 largest city centers in Germany with zero emissions by 2025.
Lars Purkarthofer, head of UPS’s Berlin office, explained that in 2012, the company began to systematically supply the city center in Hamburg with the help of cargo bikes and. has implemented similar solutions in 30 cities worldwide since then. KoMoDo shows that it is possible for several parcel services to operate side by side, while additionally relieving traffic in the urban area. Purkarthofer believes that city logistics projects such as KoMoDo in Berlin are only possible if all involved work together consistently and constructively.
BIEK chairman Marten Bosselmann agreed that the project had played an important role in improving urban traffic conditions. By providing suitable infrastructure in a non-discriminatory way, the city had enabled cooperation without regulation. Bosselmann thanked the Senate, the district of Berlin-Pankow and the BEHALA, and said this impressive low-emission transportation solution could easily be transferred to other cities as well.
