The new facility, equipped with electric and HVO-fueled vehicles, marks a significant leap in DPD’s commitment to greener, more efficient parcel delivery services in the heart of London.
DPD, a leading parcel delivery service, has unveiled a state-of-the-art sorting centre in London’s Docklands that exclusively utilises electric and HVO-fuelled vehicles for its operations. The site is primed to handle up to 80,000 parcels per day within the capital.
This new site is equipped with solar panels on the parking canopy to charge the 500 electric delivery vans and a 40,000-litre HVO tank that enables LGVs and 7.5t trucks to refuel using renewable Biofuel. DPD has further plans to install solar panels on the main roof in the upcoming year, generating up to 1m kWh annually to power the facility.
The facility is anticipated to create 650 new jobs upon reaching full operational capacity in the early months of the new year. The depot will exclusively handle DPD’s delivery service within London’s north and south circular area using all-electric vehicles.
Alongside its green parcel delivery operations, a 430-metre conveyor system will automatically sort all intra-London parcels for next-day delivery on-site, a strategic shift from the current practice of trunking parcels to the Midlands for sorting and back. Moreover, this depot marks DPD’s achievement of delivering to 30 major towns and cities across the UK using zero and low-emission final mile delivery vehicles.
“This represents a major milestone in our green journey. We opened the UK’s first all-electric parcel delivery depot in Westminster almost exactly five years ago. Now Docklands demonstrates what is possible, on a much bigger scale. But this is far from the end. We are constantly looking for new and smarter solutions, as we demonstrated earlier this year with the roll-out of autonomous robot deliveries, and we will continue investing in green innovation to accelerate our decarbonisation pathway,” explained Elaine Kerr, DPD UK CEO.
