Press Release Electric Trucks DISTRILOG

DISTRILOG, one of the largest companies in logistic services and transport in Belgium, is proud to announce the successful implementation of two electric trucks in partnership with Mouterij Albert, part of brewer Alken-Maes. This initiative is the result of a long-term partnership and a shared commitment to sustainability.

Cooperation with Mouterij Albert:

DISTRILOG recently renewed its contract with Mouterij Albert, with the two companies joining forces to implement sustainable solutions. The two electric trucks, manufactured by Volvo Trucks, are the latest addition to DISTRILOG’s fleet and contribute to the joint mission to reduce the impact of CO² emissions from transport as much as possible.

Trajectory and environmental impact:

Both trucks will shuttle between the container terminal in Willebroek and Mouterij Albert in Puurs-Sint-Amands. Edwin Zuidema, General Manager at Mouterij Albert: “The trucks will carry around 20 containers a day and make some 4,300 trips a year, more than 50% of all our container traffic. Annually, they will cover some 48,000 kilometres, or about 150 times the Brussels-Paris route.” Through this innovative approach, DISTRILOG and Mouterij Albert will save as much as 42.8 tonnes of CO² annually, which is equivalent to planting and growing 1050 trees for a year. Moreover, the electric trucks are charged with green, renewable electricity from solar panels on the roof of the DISTRILOG site in Breendonk.

Future-oriented sustainability:

DISTRILOG and Mouterij Albert look forward tp a sustainable future in which such initiatives become the norm in the transport sector. The partnership between the two companies serves as an inspiring example of how joint efforts can contribute to a greener future. The electrification of logistics follows previously announced investments to reduce Mouterij Albert’s carbon footprint in the coming years. Sophie Ponet, Corporate Affairs Director at Alken-Maes, says: “In addition to these electric trucks, we are currently also investigating whether we can electrify the Mouterij’s transports that take place via inland navigation. In the meantime, Alken-Maes is fully committed to electric vehicles. This is all in addition to an ambitious investment plan to reduce the CO² emissions of Mouterij Albert and our other production sites. With this, we support the global ambition of our parent company HEINEKEN to achieve Net Zero direct and indirect emissions by 2030.”

DISTRILOG is also looking at a sustainable future. CEO Philip Salaerts explains: “Several sustainable inititiatives have already been taken at DISTRILOG in the past, and to this day, we continue to see if we can do even more. Until recently, most of the roofs of our warehouses were dotted with solar panels, we had installed LED lighting almost everywhere and we had 42 LNG trucks. Now we are happy to add two electric trucks to that, in collaboration with De Mouterij.” Yet he still sees a major stumbling block in the electric story: “ The cost price of an electric truck is about three and a half times higher than a Diesel-truck, so from a commercial point of view it remains a difficult story for the time being. It is really necessary that our customers want to get on board in an electric story, like Mouterij Albert and Alken-Maes have done now. Prices will come down in the future, although I think the government will have to provide additional incentives in addition to the existing subsidies.”

Driver education

DISTRILOG drivers Patrick and François underwent specific training at Volvo before using these electric trucks. Both were initially sceptical, but after the training they said that it is better than expected: “You hear nothing, you feel nothing, everything is silent. It is simply wonderful to drive!”, François said.

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This press release appeared in several magazines. You'll find the various links to these articles here:

FLOWS: https://www.flows.be/transport...

dVO: https://www.dvo.be/artikel/dis...

Transportmedia: https://transportmedia.be/2024...