Fuso eCanters, StreetScooters, and cargo bikes-with this all-electric vehicle mix, Dachser will be making all its deliveries to the heart of the southwest Germany city Freiburg emission-free as of today. Taking transportation as a whole, this new service reduces CO2 emissions per shipment by 26 percent.

In the city center of Freiburg, Germany, Dachser has designated the post code 79098-which encompasses parts of the city’s Altstadt, Neuburg, and Oberau districts-as an emission-free delivery area. Effective immediately, B2B and B2C customers in this roughly 1.5 km2 zone will receive all their groupage shipments completely emission-free. “We successfully introduced electrically assisted cargo bikes two years ago, so this is now the next logical step in doing our part to improve the quality of the air and of life in Freiburg’s downtown,” says Michael Gaudlitz, General Manager of Dachser’s Freiburg logistics center.

To make these emission-free deliveries, Dachser will immediately deploy a 7.5-ton all-electric FUSO eCanter, a light truck that will deliver goods either directly to customers or to the microhub operated by partner VeloCARRIER / Roc-Ket Cargo Bikes, located close to downtown. There, smaller shipments are transferred to electrically assisted cargo bikes or StreetScooters for the delivery runs. The charge point for the electric truck is located at Dachser’s branch in the Breisgau industrial park south of Freiburg, which-like all the logistics provider’s branches in Germany-purchases 100 percent hydroelectric power.

Taking transportation as a whole-collection and line-haul are performed with conventional diesel trucks-this new service reduces CO2 emissions per shipment by 26 percent on average, particulates emissions by about 47 percent, and nitrogen oxide emissions by about 41 percent.

Electric vehicle mix for city distribution

DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery, an innovative city logistics concept, is built on a modular toolbox for city-center deliveries. Dachser has been putting the concept into practice in downtown Stuttgart since 2018, and recently rolled out DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery in Oslo as well. “This is a promising beginning, but there is still a long road ahead of us-for a start, we have to resolve issues surrounding the availability of trucks with alternative powertrains,” explains Stefan Hohm, Corporate Director Corporate Solutions, Research & Development, who is in charge of the City Distribution innovation project at Dachser. At the same time, he remains optimistic: “Over the next two years, we will be examining select European metropolitan regions to successively identify the hotspots in their city centers and implement the DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery concept.”

Doosan, the leading manufacturer of robust high-performance forklift trucks, has launched the LIN-Q Smart Telematics System, an advanced Cloud based solution that remotely monitors a forklift truck fleet in real-time and sends information straight to a mobile phone, tablet or PC.

Using wireless communication (LTE, 3G, WiFi, GPS), the system automatically updates and reports on each individual forklift truck’s performance – maximising efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing safety across the fleet.

Increase Productivity

This powerful ‘always on’ fleet management tool provides detailed information on service & breakdown history, battery charging/discharging, fuel efficiency and operating hours – including monitoring working/ non-working hours within daily operations. Loading history and driving/idling data is also captured, allowing the optimum fleet size to be calculated, which could lead to significant cost savings through removing unnecessary trucks or a review of replacements.

The service history management function offers vital information on replaced parts, downtime and service records – with notifications automatically sent when parts are due for replacement. The system presents all the information needed for effective forklift fleet management, maximising equipment uptime and delivering significant operational cost savings.

Enhance Safety

Aiding compliance to Health & Safety requirements, Doosan’s advanced LIN-Q Smart Telematics System records vehicle speed and any shocks in real-time. Alerts are automatically sent to both the driver and manager when a speed limit is exceeded or if a shock is recorded. The system also enhances on-site safety and security by restricting vehicle usage to authorised drivers only. And importantly, the system requires a driver to carry out checks on a vehicle before being permitted to operate it.

The system enhances safety, helps prevent damage and preserves the value of the vehicle.

Improve Security

Helping businesses keep track of their valuable fleet assets, Doosan’s LIN-Q Smart Telematics System logs each vehicles’ location in real-time and issues a warning alarm if a forklift truck travels beyond its permitted working area or is operational outside working hours.

Monthly Reports

A regular monthly fleet management report is sent by email, offering detailed information on the operation of the forklift fleet – from operational performance, efficiency and uptime to managing consumables, service maintenance and impact reporting.

sennder, Europe’s leading digital freight forwarder, announced today that it has acquired Uber’s European freight business in an all-stock transaction. The two companies have joined forces to further revolutionize the digital freight industry across Europe, the US and Canada. Uber will acquire a minority stake in sennder as part of this deal, and its European freight business will continue operating under the sennder brand.

This acquisition marks sennder’s further consolidation of the trucking market and extends the group’s local presence to include Amsterdam. It is sennder’s second transaction this year, having merged with French counterpart Everoad in June, and following a recently established Joint Venture with Poste Italiane, Italy’s largest logistics operator. Uber Freight’s European General Manager, Tom Christenson, will join sennder as Chief Operating Officer and Daniel Warner, currently Head of Shipper Operations, will join as Senior Vice President Commercial. The Amsterdam based Uber Freight team will join sennder once the transaction has closed, and sennder will establish a new office in Amsterdam.

Strategic partnership

As part of this deal, sennder and Uber entered into a strategic collaboration agreement to provide enterprise shippers with a market-leading level of service, efficiency and advanced technologies for freight logistics services across the US, Canada and Europe. The agreement includes a shipper referral program in which sennder will refer shippers seeking freight brokerage or similar services in North America to Uber Freight, and vice versa.

The deal strengthens sennder’s position as the largest digital freight forwarder in Europe and enhances its service capabilities across its key markets. Uber will continue to grow and invest in its Uber Freight business across the US and Canada, while Uber Freight will collaborate with sennder as leading digital logistics providers in North America and Europe. Through this agreement, Uber Freight will offer its customers substantially extended reach in Europe.

Acceleration of growth

Since its foundation in 2015, Berlin-based sennder has raised over €120m from leading investors including Accel, Lakestar, HV Ventures, Project A and Scania and demonstrated its ability to grow quickly and effectively. Following the closing of the transaction, sennder will have offices in 7 countries, with a team of over 500 people moving 50,000 loads across Europe a month.

Focused on modernizing the European freight market, an industry now valued at nearly €400bn, the company is very optimistic about its growth outlook for the foreseeable future. Through its proprietary technology sennder connects large enterprise companies with small trucking firms. This digital solution reduces inefficiencies in the shipping process: lowering costs for shippers, increasing revenues for carriers and reducing industry emissions.

David Nothacker, CEO and Co-Founder of sennder, said: “We are immensely proud to have created the leading digital road freight forwarder in Europe, moving more than 50,000 loads every month across 31 countries. This acquisition strengthens our position as Europe’s number one digital logistics provider. We also look forward to working with Uber Freight to bring further value to both companies’ customers.”

Lior Ron, Head of Uber Freight, said: “We are proud of the incredible growth and success our Uber Freight team in Europe was able to achieve. This collaboration with sennder allows us to further extend our reach in Europe while doubling down on our Uber Freight business in North America, and to jointly push the digital freight industry forward.”