Haulage and logistics company Duvenbeck is leading the charge in sustainable transport by electrifying its logistics operations at the ZF plant in Saarbrücken, Germany.
The company has introduced five new Volvo FH Electric tractor units for the transportation of components between Plant 1 and the external warehouse Plant 4/DVZ, covering a distance of 15 kilometers.
Since late November, these electric trucks have been shuttling series transmissions and components to ZF customers on their outbound journey, while returning with mainly empties to Plant 1. Duvenbeck emphasises that the electric quintet is not a direct replacement for combustion engines, but an initiative to support ZF’s transition to e-mobility, complementing the existing LNG-powered tractor units in operation since 2019.
Equipped with three electric motors and six traction batteries boasting a total capacity of 540kWh, the FH electric vehicles can be fully charged in just 2.5 hours with a DC Charging capacity of 250kW, although specific details about the charging infrastructure in Saarbrücken are not provided by Duvenbeck.
The Saarbrücken plant, one of ZF’s major production sites, specialises in manufacturing automatic transmissions for passenger cars and is gearing up for future production of drives for purely electric vehicles. Duvenbeck, responsible for a portion of ZF’s internal plant transport, aims to contribute to ZF’s ambitious environmental goals with its new electric fleet.
“The new quintet of zero-emission trucks therefore fits perfectly into our climate strategy,” said Johannes Buchmann, Head of Freight Network and Purchasing Europe at ZF Group.
Bernd Reining, Head of Vehicle Fleet Manager at Duvenbeck, highlights the collaborative effort between industry and logistics partners in advancing irreversible technological transformation. The company’s commitment to Vision Zero, a world without emissions and accidents, will be visibly displayed on the tarpaulins of their vehicles. Duvenbeck, founded in 1932, operates as a full-service logistics provider with over 6,000 employees across more than 33 locations in eight countries, managing a fleet of 1,500 vehicles primarily serving industrial logistics sectors.
