Two more major courier companies are trialling e-cargo bikes for last mile deliveries. FedEx Express is to introduce a fleet of eight e-cargo bikes in London, while Hermes is testing two Loadster four-wheelers from Berlin manufacturer Citkar in Germany.
FedEx’s Reduce, Replace, Revolutionize strategy focuses on exploring alternative fuels and technologies among other things.
Speaking earlier this year, the firm’s senior vice president ground operations Europe, Trevor Hoyle, said: "A tightening of logistics infrastructure around the city allows for greater experimentation and use of different solutions to complete the last mile, including cargo bikes. This will be critical as online buying continues to surge."
Citti reports that the London delivery riders will be using three-wheelers supplied by Wiltshire-based Iceni Cycles.
Hoyle said: “One bike alone can reduce around 6,700kg of CO2 per year, so now with more goods flowing into our cities than ever before, there’s never been a better time to introduce emission-free pickup and deliveries.”
Hermes, meanwhile, will trial Loadsters in Dresden and Leipzig, reports Parcel and Postal Technology.
We’d call the four-wheel Loadster a mini van, if that weren’t already a thing. It’s a mini mini van, we suppose.
“Especially in cities like Leipzig and Dresden with the high volume of traffic and the immense stopping density for our delivery staff, cargo bikes are simply a perfect addition to parcel delivery,” commented Martin Jugel, last-mile manager of the Leipzig Area at Hermes Germany.
Test operations indicate that it can be used for up to 90 shipments per day in Dresden’s old town.
“The first weeks of testing have shown that our riders are very satisfied with the bike and that the residents are also very positive about the alternative delivery method,” said Jugel.
We’ve also recently reported how Nicola Sturgeon wants e-cargo bikes from another big delivery firm – UPS – running in Glasgow in time for the Cop26 climate change conference later this year.
