DHL Freight Germany, the leading provider of road freight services in Europe, deployed 30 state-of-the-art 12 tonne trucks manufactured by MAN. These vehicles are equipped with the latest electrical safety enhancements such as turning assistant to increase driver and public safety.
In line with DHL’s GoGreen program, 15 of the 30 trucks were equipped with TRAILAR solar systems in June 2019. The thin, flexible solar matting was installed on the roofs of rigid vehicles and connected to the vehicle battery, providing sufficient energy for functions such as tail lifts operations and air conditioning.
Over the 6-week pilot, the TRAILAR systems saved 500 Litres of diesel across the 15 new DHL Freight vehicles. Based on the telematic data captured, this operation is in full motion to produce an annual fuel saving of 745 Litres of diesel (€968 per rigid). This fuel saving also leads to a CO2 saving of 2 tonnes per rigid, per year.
“The TRAILAR system is really great. I’m proud that my employer, DHL, is one of the first to use it. We’ve been tracking vehicle fuel consumption for over four months. So far, we’re very happy with the results. Based on our experience, we can say that vehicles fitted with the TRAILAR system save between one and two litres of fuel per hundred kilometres” said Alexander Krudow, DHL Fleet Manager.