Colruyt Group has started using a 44-ton electric truck to supply city stores as sustainably as possible. The truck is quieter and generates fewer emissions, making deliveries less inconvenient for residents. Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) officially inaugurated the refrigerated e-truck.
“Using electric trucks for city deliveries is no longer a thing of the future. With this truck, we are the first in Flanders, even unique in Europe,” the Minister said. “Flanders is a logistics hub in the heart of Europe, so we are a top region for sustainable logistics.”
A first for Belgium
Colruyt Group opted for a large truck because every Colruyt store has four trucks delivering products daily. “If we were to replace them with vans, that would be 51 vans, which would require a lot more traffic into the city,” explained Koen De Vos, responsible for the Colruyt Group’s supply chain. The electric truck for city deliveries is a first for Belgium and is rarely seen in Europe.
In addition, Colruyt Group has signed the Flemish Government’s ‘Covenant on Sustainable Urban Logistics’, in which 33 signatories commit to supplying or being supplied sustainably by 2030. “We want to make our own freight transport emission-free by 2030, and we expect the same from our suppliers by 2035,” De Vos added.
VIAVIA
The environmentally friendly truck is part of the Flemish government’s VIAVIA project to make freight transport more sustainable by 2030. With VIAVIA, the Flemish Government wants to collaborate with the academic world, the private sector, and local authorities to make transport more sustainable. The intention is to deliver as much as possible via water and rail.
VIAVIA stands for ‘Vrachtvervoer Intelligent Aanpassen en Vergroenen via een Integrale Aanpak’, which means ‘Intelligent Adjustment and Greening of Freight Transport via an Integrated Approach. ‘
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