DPD Germany is putting a micro-depot into operation in Berlin, which will be equipped with two heavy-duty electric cargo bikes supplied Berlin-based startup ONO, alongside four additional cargo bikes. The company says the facility will provide local, emission-free parcel deliveries to the surrounding districts of Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, Pankow and Lichtenberg.
Initially the depot will handle 400 parcels per day, with quantities rising in future thanks to the possibility of re-loading the cargo bikes at the micro-depot. As the micro-depot is supplied in the morning by an electrically powered VW e-Crafter, local delivery of parcels will become completely emission-free.
DPD already has experience in parcel delivery with cargo bikes in Berlin, explains Gerd Seber, group manager sustainability and innovation at the company: “We supplied parts of the delivery area with pedelec bikes during our participation in the KoMoDo cross-provider cargo bike project, which was funded by the federal government. In the process we also discovered that there was still potential for development in the available cargo bike models, especially in the areas of reliability and aftersales. We have used different models here as well as in other cities over an extended period of time.
“We are pleased to be able to deploy another professional model in the form of the ONO PAT, and are looking forward to working with it. After the end of the KoMoDo project we started looking for suitable locations for our own micro-depot and found what we were looking for on the edge of the Prenzlauer Berg district. The surrounding delivery area mainly consists of private consignees, and the stop density of the delivery tours is correspondingly high. Such areas are ideally suited for parcel deliveries by cargo bike.”