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Oct 22, 2020 at 7:40 AMRhenus Home Delivery has been testing a novel delivery vehicle from the French manufacturer Maxicargo at its location in Hoppegarten near Berlin for several weeks. This vehicle consists of a tractor unit and a swap body and is part of the Dock‘n’Deliver strategy, where the innovation hub of Rhenus Home Delivery addresses the challenges of the last mile.
(Berlin / Holzwickede) – The detachable swap body offers a number of advantages. It is classified as a trailer according to current driving license regulations, so only a Class BE car driving license is required to drive it. In contrast to a Sprinter with an average payload of 1,000 kilograms, the new vehicle can transport 1,500 kilograms. This corresponds to a 50 percent increase in payload.
Vehicle to Optimize Deliveries in Large Cities
“With the Dock’n’Deliver vehicle, we hope to have found a way to attract qualified employees more easily in times of driver shortages and thus meet the growth path of our clients. Furthermore, the swap concept offers us new opportunities to optimize deliveries in large cities economically and ecologically,” explains Ronny Sassen, Managing Director of Rhenus Home Delivery. Since the tractor unit and swap body can be firmly connected, there is no need to adjust driving behavior – the turning radius is only slightly larger due to the three axles. With the installed CNG drive, environmentally friendly and sustainable goods transport can be ensured.
Scaling with a Positive Pilot Project
If the pilot project is completed positively, the next step will be the use of multiple swap bodies. Goods could then be prepared outside the warehouse, thus creating external storage spaces. Since the trailers would already be pre-loaded for the delivery tours, both loading times for the delivery teams and morning traffic jams at the ramps could be minimized.
About Rhenus
The Rhenus Group is one of the leading logistics service providers operating worldwide, with an annual turnover of 5.5 billion euros. 33,000 employees of Rhenus are represented at 750 locations. Along the entire supply chain, the Rhenus Group offers solutions for various industries, including multimodal transport, warehousing, customs clearance, and innovative value-added services.www.rhenus.com www.maxicargo.com Photo: © Rhenus SE & Co. KG
