The Gotland Region makes a large investment on sustainability and has set a target to be fossil-free in 2040, five years ahead of Sweden’s national target. One step is that Schenker Åkeri AB has taken over all distributional transports on the island, and made it fossil-free with the support from Scania.
The four electric distribution trucks Scania P25, and the two hybrids Scania PHEV are a part of DB Schenker’s transition to fossil-free on Gotland. The ambition is to be the world’s top island-region in sustainability. What DB Schenker does is very special, as they are taking on a whole region, ensuring it has fossil-free distributional transports in one go.
“We already operate with electric vehicles throughout Sweden, and know how that works out. Now we take the next step and invest in electrified distribution in a whole region – to really make a difference. On top of that, we gain valuable knowledge on electrified operations both in urban areas with many starts and stops, and in rural areas with distances more than 300 kilometres,” says Viktor Strömblad, Head of Land på DB Schenker.
“It feels really good to establish a fossil-free and almost emission-free distribution on Gotland. The special thing with this investment is that we are taking on complete distribution area right away,” says Jonas Jävert, Head of Innovation & Purchasing, Schenker Åkeri.
Scania has customers that operate in many different geographic regions, that try battery electric vehicles in several applications. Gotland’s size is favourable for electrifying transports.
“What DB Schenker does at Gotland, with a fossil-free system solution in a unique environment teaches us a lot about the challenges and possibilities that occur when a complete distribution centre is electrified. Going forward, we see the same potential for DB Schenker’s international truck fleet,” says Evalena Falck, Scania Sales Director, Strategic Account Management.
DB Schenker’s truck fleet is electrified at a fast pace, and the global target is that all transports, sea, air and land, should be climate neutral by 2040, but the company works hard to enable it to happen even faster. To be one step ahead and push the transition to fossil-free is in both Scania’s and DB Schenker’s vision.