Consolidated deliveries trial in London

The trial ran from March to August, with 40 traders at Billingsgate are taking part in the trial, which focusses on deliveries from the market to commercial customers in the capital, including some of London’s most prestigious establishments.

Many traders rely on vans to make these deliveries, but for much of the day these vans are not in use. The City Corporation identified the opportunity to consolidate some of those trips, which avoids duplicating journeys and requires fewer vans.

Funded by the City Corporation, which owns and manages Billingsgate Market, the trial is being run using DHL Supply Chain and Ford Pro vehicles, software and servicing support.

The 18-week collaboration has revealed significant opportunities to benefit both business and the environment. There has been an estimated 37% reduction in CO2 emissions compared with business as usual, with 949 fewer vehicle journeys on central London’s congested roads resulting in 23,961 fewer kilometres driven overall. This has also supported reduced costs and improved efficiencies for participating businesses.

This trial is part of the City Corporation’s aim to reduce the environmental impact of its wholesale markets through innovation, including the planned relocation of Billingsgate, Smithfield and New Spitalfields markets to Dagenham Dock. An electric vehicle charging point has been installed in the market car park.

Billingsgate trader Youssef Archi, director of Ish Seafood, says: “The delivery service is now getting better and better, so we’re not using our vans anymore. Before, every time we got a new customer we needed a new van, which was just more headache for us. Now, we can just focus on getting more customers.”

 Tutu Akinkoye, GoGreen lead for DHL Supply Chain UK and Ireland, adds: “We’re delighted with the results of the trial, which support our approach to not only ‘burn clean’ through the use of sustainable alternative fuels and drivetrains, but ‘burn less’ by reducing the energy and fuel consumption of our operations.

The seven refrigerated Ford Pro vehicles, including an all-electric Ford E‑Transit, are equipped with sensors that feed real-time data into Ford Pro Telematics and the FORDLiive connected uptime system to support fleet managers as they monitor the efficiency, condition and health of the vehicles.

For more information, visit www.dhl.com