DB Schenker, an international logistics service provider, and FUSO, a Daimler Trucks brand, say they are expanding their partnership in the field of e-mobility.
In the coming months, DB Schenker will bring a total of 36 additional FUSO eCanter vehicles into operation in 11 European countries. The company is thus strengthening its sustainability strategy and further expanding the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in its mixed fleets. DB Schenker has already been using the FUSO eCanter in Berlin since 2018 delivering packaged goods in the city center. Since 2019, the company has added further vehicles in Paris, Frankfurt and the Stuttgart area.
“DB Schenker is a pioneer for innovations in logistics, and now we are becoming a provider of green logistics. We focus on sustainability, from the first to the last mile,” says Cyrille Bonjean, head of land transport Europe at DB Schenker. “Emission-free logistics in cities is already possible today, as we are demonstrating throughout Europe together with FUSO and the new eCanter. We are proud that we were able to secure a significant portion of the eCanter production run from this year for us.”
FUSO is currently producing the 36 new vehicles for DB Schenker at its European plant in Tramagal, Portugal. In the next few weeks, they will be equipped with box bodies and tail lifts from various bodybuilders, thus rendering them ideal for delivering packaged goods.
DB Schenker will use the trucks – with an output of 129 kW and a payload of up to 3.2 tons – for urban short-radius distribution in major European cities such as Oslo, Copenhagen, Madrid, Salzburg, Vienna, Hamburg, Rome and Milan. In total, DB Schenker’s electric light-duty trucks deliver almost silently and with zero-emissions to customers in inner-city locations in 20 European cities in Germany, Finland, Denmark, UK, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Spain and Italy.
The vehicles boast a range of at least 100 km and are thus able to cover the requirements of DB Schenker in inner-city short-radius distribution. The vehicles are charged overnight either with alternating current or direct current chargers depending on availability. Charging can be reduced to around 90 minutes if a high-speed charger is used.
By intensifying their partnership, DB Schenker will become FUSO’s largest electric fleet customer with a total of 41 eCanter vehicles in daily operations. Experience gained with the FUSO eCanter to date has been consistently positive. For DB Schenker, the FUSO eCanter has proven its reliability in real operations over the past two years and offers an ecological mobility solution for its truck fleet as an important component of its sustainability strategy.
Photo: The FUSO eCanter