DHL Freight looks at sustainable shipping with four new natural gas powered trucks

June 19, 2018: DHL Freight has acquired four Liquefied Natural Gas powered Stralis trucks from IVECO in Belgium. These heavy-duty, long-haul trucks have a driving range of up to 1,500 kilometers and enable a total weight of tractor and trailer of up to 40 tonnes.

The road freight services provider decided to buy these new trucks keeping in mind the group strategy in mind – to reduce all logistics-related emissions net to zero by 2050.

The trucks will be employed to create a sustainable transport solution for one of the world’s largest developers and sellers of athletic footwear and sportswear. The customer himself is ambitiously working on minimising his environmental footprint by focusing on energy, chemistry, water and waste in its entire supply chain.

“As an excellent long-haul alternative to diesel, natural gas provides a great opportunity for DHL Freight to become front runner in sustainable road freight shipping,” said Uwe Brinks, CEO, DHL Freight. “It offers the chance to reduce greenhouse gas and particulate matter emissions, in addition to benefits such as noise reduction and cost savings. With IVECO’s natural gas powered trucks, we can now provide customers with additional options for environmentally friendly long-distance transport and further contribute to DHL’s GoGreen environmental goals.”

The trucks purchased by DHL Freight meet the strict Euro 6 emissions standards, making them an excellent choice for future operations.

The IVECO Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG-) powered Stralis provides substantial advantages that make it a sensible investment for the future. Compared to diesel, the use of liquid natural gas reduces particulate matter emissions by 99 percent and nitrogen dioxide by 96 percent. CO2 is reduced by up to 10 percent and can be even reduced up to 95 percent by using bio methane. As for noise pollution, vehicles using natural gas production up to 50 percent less noise than diesel vehicles. In addition to these clear environmental benefits, liquid natural gas provides economic benefits, due to its lower cost.

DHL Freight’s recent sustainability measures also include the purchase of two all-electric FUSO eCanter trucks for shorter distances around Berlin. In addition to these new types of drives, other emissions-reducing strategies such as truck superstructures that save fuel and therefore reduce emissions are being used as well. These include the aerodynamic teardrop trailer, which has a drop-shaped roof to reduce air resistance, thereby reducing fuel consumption by 6 percent to 10 percent over conventional heavy trucks. DHL Freight has been using the teardrop trailer in its transport operations in Germany, France and the Benelux countries since 2014.