DHL makes heavy dual fuel truck investment

A further 51 dual fuel vehicles are on order and set to join the fleet in the coming months. The latest batch of vehicles will be operated from the logistics provider’s Campus in Bawtry, which now houses a liquefied natural gas (LNG) refuelling station, designed to minimise environmental impact and costs with the use of "zero loss” refuelling technology.

Dual fuel is a technology that allows natural gas to be used in conjunction with diesel, reducing the total consumption of diesel and cutting CO2 emissions. The vast majority of diesel used by DHL Supply Chain in the UK is through its heavy goods fleet for which alternative technologies such as hybrids and electric vehicles are not viable.

The cost of diesel has risen by up to 43% over the last three years and produces 2.546kgs of CO2 for every litre burned, whereas LNG when used with diesel in a dual fuel vehicle typically reduces CO2 emissions by 10 – 14%. An estimated annual CO2 reduction of around 1,200 tonnes is expected at the Bawtry site in the coming years – a figure equivalent to 5,933 trailers full of CO2[1].

The move by DHL to use these vehicles, which are plated and designed to operate at  44 tonnes, will support the increasing need for DHL’s customers to reduce their carbon footprint and the opportunity to reduce their overall logistics spend, as well as aligning to DHL’s global GoGreen commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020. 

DHL looks for specific expertise from companies such as BOC, who have  decades of experience in the building and operating of refuelling infrastructure and the supply and handling of cryogenic liquids, as well as Volvo Trucks, with its extensive knowledge of alternative drivelines and  methane diesel (dual fuel).

[1] CO2 calculations based on a DHL Network Teardrop with 112.5 m3 of internal space and 556.2 m3 of CO2 per tonne as per calculations by the International Carbon bank and Exchange.