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Goods transport: reduce, transfer, make greener
Colruyt Group truck criss-cross the entire country each day. They do this as efficiently and sustainably as possible. Where possible we tackle this as a group. And when it comes to goods transport, we do it in four ways!
Limiting kilometres
Driving a half-empty truck? Not a good idea. It leads to unnecessary traffic, consumption and emissions. That’s why our trucks always drive at least 95% full, and we’ve invested in intelligent transport planning software. Since 1994, these measures have led to an annual reduction of some 7.5 million kilometres, a figure that will continue to rise.
For international goods transport, the popularity of alternative means of transport by rail or boat is growing. And we certainly don't want to miss the boat! in 2016, we avoided some 3,169,000 truck kilometres, and reduced CO2 emissions by 7,363 tonnes.
Avoiding peak times
Our truck drivers use routes where they avoid peak hours and traffic jams as much as possible. Today, 20% of deliveries even take place in the evenings or at night. And we aim to increase that to 33%.
Why? So that trucks don't make traffic jams worse than they already are, and we avoid extra crowding on the roads. What’s more, not only is this more (cost-) efficient, it also avoids unnecessary fuel consumption and improves road safety.
And to make deliveries as quiet as possible, we have invested some 3.5 million euros in soundproofing, infrastructure and training in the last few years.
Investments in soundproof material:
- quiet trailers
- low-noise pallets
- covered loading dock at shops
- driver training in quiet delivery
A cleaner fleet
The mechanics in our workshops maintain the trucks with the requisite care. The tractor units which are fully amortised are systematically replaced with units which comply with the Euro 6 emissions standard, thus emit less nitrogen and fine particulates.
Alternative and clean fuels are also an option. At our logistics sites for instance, we use electric tractors to move the trailers. That’s a lot more pleasant for the driver and the environment.
But there’s still a lot of potential. Hydrogen and natural gas are interesting alternative fuels both for logistics applications, as well as for goods and passenger transport.
Liquid Ice Container
We don't have any refrigerated trucks. We’re enthusiastic supporters of refrigerated containers which is how we transport both ordinary and frozen goods in the same truck. And why we can always send full trucks out onto the road! Recently, the Liquid Ice Container has appeared, a new type of refrigerated container for transporting chilled products. The Liquid Ice Container works with liquid ice and has less than half the impact on climate change than a classic refrigerated container.
With this initiative, we contribute to the following Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
