Trucks
Trucks
Electric trucks are rapidly emerging as a transformative force for cleaner transport in the logistics world: and if you’re in the food and beverage business, there is plenty to be excited about. In a business with increased pressure to operate more sustainably, these vehicles stand out in their ability to transport perishable goods reliably, economically, and without tailpipe emissions.
The food and beverage industry relies on strict schedules due to the time- and temperature-sensitive goods that are delivered. High volumes of goods are transported frequently to multiple locations every single day.
This organizational puzzle can be quite a headache. And with increasingly strict emission restrictions on heavy-duty vehicles coupled with customers expecting sustainable methods of transportation, things aren’t getting any easier.
However, electric trucks provide a realistic, workable solution for food transportation. With their unrestricted city access, zero tailpipe emissions, and quiet operation, they are the key to future-proofing businesses and lowering emissions. Taking it one step further, they indicate a shift in the industry, moving us closer to a future with reduced transport emissions.
As cities across Europe tighten their environmental regulations, low-emission zones (LEZs) are becoming the new norm. In fact, it is projected that this year there will be around 507 LEZs across the continent, making it increasingly difficult for trucks running on fossil fuels to operate in urban centers.
This points to a trend where diesel trucks are slowly being pushed out of many of our inner cities. However, where diesel trucks are banned or fined, electric trucks can make their deliveries with ease, ensuring that deliveries remain on schedule.
Their unrestricted access is not limited to geographic boundaries alone; it extends to time as well. Diesel trucks often struggle with noise restrictions and are typically barred from making deliveries during nighttime, forcing them to stand still for many hours of the day.
“With electric trucks, you have the possibility of operating at night and even indoors. Since there are no tailpipe emissions and reduced noise, they have an unpresented access to urban environments.” explains Andreas Ljungberg, Product Manager at Volvo Trucks.
However, quiet electric trucks make nighttime deliveries a possibility. They can roll into the quietest residential areas, make a delivery, and disappear into the night.
For transport buyers or business owners, the benefits are clear. By adopting electric trucks, they not only enhance operational flexibility, enabling timely nighttime deliveries and reducing rush-hour congestion, but also contribute to cleaner air and quieter streets.
This unrestricted access translates into higher utilization rates for fleets, better scheduling options, and an overall boost in efficiency. In an era where environmental credentials matter as much as operational performance, electric trucks offer a strategic advantage. They support both business goals and help reduce air and noise pollution in our cities.
Zero tailpipe emissions create a safer, cleaner environment for both products and the people around the truck. Even when idling, diesel trucks continue to emit pollutants to power auxiliary refrigeration engines. This means that as the driver walks around to off-load the goods, exhaust is still being emitted from the truck. This is not good for either the driver, or the produce being delivered.
However, as Andreas Ljungberg, explains: “In contrast, electric trucks utilize battery-powered refrigeration systems that deliver consistent cooling without any tailpipe emissions, maintaining a completely clean operation.”
Preserving the cold chain is critical in refrigerated logistics, and modern power take-off (PTO) systems are key to ensuring that perishables remain fresh throughout their journey.
Electric trucks use the main battery to power their refrigeration units. This eliminates the need for a separate diesel engine and reduces overall emissions. If a delivery route is too long for the truck’s battery to keep the fridge at the right temperature, fleet-management software plans stops at service centers or truck charging stations that have external power sources. Here the fridge can be powered from an external power source while the truck is charging, ensuring that refrigeration continues seamlessly, maintaining optimal temperatures without interruption and safeguarding the integrity of perishable cargo.
The absence of idling emissions translates into better product integrity, which is particularly important for produce that can absorb contaminants from exhaust fumes. Moreover, with zero tailpipe emissions during idle times, daily operations become a quieter and healthier working environment. A benefit that goes hand in hand with the overall efficiency and sustainability of logistics.
“First is of course that the truck is silent, the drivers feel more rested after working a shift, as they don’t hear the constant noise of an engine. And people working around the trucks find it a lot easier to communicate.” says Sergey Yaskevich, Product Manager at Volvo Trucks.
By reducing air and noise pollution, modern fleets are doing more than just meeting regulatory standards – they’re raising the bar for corporate responsibility. Consumers now expect visible sustainability commitments, and companies that deliver on this can gain a real competitive edge. As Fredrik Elensky, CEO of SydLog, explains: “Our vision is to have a carbon-neutral truck fleet. We’re close to achieving this now, with our trucks running on biogas. And for this summer, we are also waiting for our first electric truck.”
Introducing an electric truck is a powerful statement of a company’s dedication to both the environment and the communities it serves. Mira Olausson, Head of Corporate Communication & Sustainability at Salinity, says:
“Our overall climate target is to align with the Paris Agreement and the 1.5-degree ambition. To reach it, we’ve identified packaging, waste, and transportation as our focus areas.” By zeroing in on these key areas, organizations prove that sustainability isn’t just a tagline – it’s a strategic priority with measurable impact.
The benefit of using electric trucks reaches beyond the truck itself. An advanced fleet management tool, like Volvo Connect, can optimize truck usage and charging, streamline operations, and help facilitate the transition to electric trucks. Having real-time insights into vehicle performance, battery status, and driver behavior is critical to creating an efficient transport chain. Especially with vehicles that rely on charging and operate in complex urban environments.
“To help customers transition to this new technology, we make sure to offer an all-encompassing solution from planning and implementation to operation.” explains Niklas Andersson, Director Electric Solutions at Volvo Trucks.
One challenge transport buyers face involves the optimization of transport efficiency – diminishing and even eliminating the amount of empty space in trucks, finding the right routes, and reducing emissions further. Logivity, a Volvo Group company, provides a service that was set up to have a real impact in this section of the industry, and focused on the requirements of transport buyers.
It’s long been understood that a lack of information – of real data, relating to complex transport assignments – was one of the things causing problems. The problem of trucks driving with empty or partly-empty holds has led to a significant amount of service development through the years, including the suite of fleet management tools available in Volvo Connect. But Logivity takes it one step further and expands its scope to the whole industry, including various modes of transport, as well as an unbiased and agnostic overview of the actors involved.
Connecting these actors, bringing this information together, and thereby showing the opportunities for improvement that exist in the process, led to the creation of the Logivity platform and its suite of services. These enable control of every aspect of their transportation data, track and highlight possibilities to reduce both cost and emission footprints of individual routes and assignments.
Logivity provides a one-stop-shop for many of the processes that make up modern transportation. Using it gives transport buyers the information they need to streamline and improve their own assignments, leading to cost and emissions savings. You can find out more about the service here.
Electric trucks are not just a technological upgrade: they represent a revolution in how the food and beverage industry handles last-mile logistics.
By embracing electric trucks, businesses within the food and beverage industry can meet increasingly stringent regulatory demands, elevate their brand image, and secure a competitive edge in a future defined by sustainability and innovation. The future of logistics is here, and it’s electric.
