Premiere in Hamburg: Zero-emission delivery from Hermes

10 January 2024

Logistics provider relying on electrical delivery for the final mile in Germany's second largest city

We can scarcely do without online commerce in our daily lives these days. But the shipping, packaging and transport of the goods do impact the environment. Hermes Germany, based in Hamburg, aims to counteract this negative environmental impact by driving zero-emission delivery forward in certain cities. The city on the Elbe is taking on a pioneering role in Germany through the "Green Delivery Hamburg" sustainability project. Since the end of 2023, Hamburg has been the first German city where Hermes orders have been delivered emission-free right into the outlying suburbs, the company says. 176 electric vans and eight cargo bikes are being used for this.

Towards zero-emission delivery in Hamburg with new E-Mobility Hub

"It soon became clear to us here in Hamburg that, if we aim to achieve our goal, we will have to establish our own infrastructure with an adequate number of charging stations," Hermes Germany Chief Operations Officer Marco Schlüter says. Simply switching vehicles will not be enough after all. Decarbonising the last mile is a huge task, Schlüter emphasises. In addition, publicly accessible charging infrastructure for commercial use has in the past not existed to the extent required. For this reason, the logistics provider set up an E-Mobility Hub with 96 charging stations in the Billbrook district in 2022. That means that the infrastructure is now in place to boost the electrical fleet to 240 vehicles, with the aim of delivering up to 12 million parcels every year without any local emissions.

Hermes planning zero-emission deliveries in 80 German inner cities by 2025

Zero-emission delivery in Hamburg is intended as a blueprint for other cities. Hermes is already delivering parcels emission-free to some extent in Berlin, Bonn, Essen, Duisburg, Münster, Heilbronn, Mainz, Magdeburg and Göttingen. The aim is for zero-emission local deliveries in 80 German inner cities by 2025. And when it comes to cargo bike deliveries, Hermes established a new record in 2023. Last year, some 2 million parcels were delivered by cargo-bike across Germany, the company says.
fw/sb/rm