Volvo CE and Volvo Trucks have teamed up with logistics firm Capelle Transports to pilot an electric shuttle delivery solution. The e-shuttle service has been designed to reduce CO2 emissions during the first transport leg of construction machines from the Volvo CE factory in Belley, France, but also increase efficiency by optimizing the loading of each truck trailer that leaves the yard.

Usually, Volvo Compact Excavators are distributed from Belley to customers using a conventional truck. With the trial set-up, the machines have been transported from Belley to a logistics centre near Lyon using a 100% electric Volvo FH Electric truck, fully optimizing the loading capacity. From Lyon, the excavators could be more easily dispatched to continue the journey to the customer.

This is a journey of some 100 kilometres before the excavators are unloaded and the electric truck returns to Belley, presumably empty. The machines are then taken by diesel trucks to the customer.

A new approach

Volvo Group has the ambition to reduce its indirect Scope 3 emissions by 30% by 2030, a target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. The trial also proves that a holistic net zero value chain requires innovative collaborations and tailored solutions that are a step beyond the initial introduction of electric technology.

Hui-I Tsai, Head of Global Outbound Logistics at Volvo CE, said: “This project contributes to reduced CO2 emissions during the initial transportation of our products and is another milestone in our efforts to achieve a more sustainable operation. In addition, since transporters have been able to pick up our machines more frequently, we have seen a reduction in the amount of stock in our yard.”

Ghislain Fantou, Production Logistics Purchasing at Volvo Group Truck Operations, said: “As a leader in logistics transport, we have a clear objective to reduce CO2 together with our contracted carriers. To do this, we identify opportunities in our processes where we could introduce electric transport, particularly for such short-distance round-trip flows.”

Rethinking logistics

The solution has been demonstrated by loading compact excavators – which could have included Volvo CE’s zero-emission solutions such as the EC18 Electric, ECR18 Electric and ECR25 Electric – onto electric trucks for the first leg of their journey. The e-shuttle service has been operating between Belley and a logistics centre near Lyon.