Belgian Post buy double decker trucks to cut routes, costs and emissions

Bpost, the Belgian Post, have announced it is investing in 320 Double Deck Trailers (DDT) to yield savings and cut down on emissions.

Through the use of DDTs, the company will be able to carry 60% more parcels and reduce their routes by 30% by 2030:

Our goal by 2030 is to reduce our routes by 11 million kilometres a year, which will have a serious impact on our CO2 emissions,” said Luc Cloet, Director of Mail & Retail at Bpost.

By 2040, the company plan to purchase another 230 DDTs, which will reduce the travel distance of their trucks by another 10%.

DDTs are 4 metres high and 13.6 metres long. However, it is mainly the double-deck interior that makes the vehicles unique, as they allow for a significant increase in capacity.

 Each DDT can accommodate 70 container trolleys, i.e. up to 2,100 parcels. By comparison, 44 container trolleys and 1,200 parcels can be loaded into a standard trailer,” said Gunther Piens, Bpost’s Logistics Director.

Double-deck trailers also mean savings on truck maintenance. Thanks to the DDTs, Bpost will have 730 trucks in its fleet by 2030. Without them, the company would have to maintain 860 vehicles.

As the Belgian Post explains, transport constitutes a major challenge, because the volume of parcels transported and delivered is steadily increasing year by year (by 78.4% in Q2 2020).

That is why a global and well-thought-out approach is needed to control the impact of these activities on the environment and mobility,” explains the Group in their press release.