• Why is smart urban delivery the way forward?

Being a last-mile delivery player, there are three main challenges to tackle :

• With the growth of city populations, delivery requests in urban area increase. Over 73% of Europe’s inhabitants live in cities
• E-commerce is exploding. Parcel volumes are expected to double by 2025, increasing delivery traffic in city centres.
• Urban centres are becoming increasingly congested and polluted, as urban mobility accounts for 40% of all CO2 emissions of road transport

To meet these challenges, DPDgroup has developed a range of innovative, user-focused delivery solutions. DPDgroup’ urban logistics initiatives aim at improving everyday urban life by giving customers greater delivery choices, while reducing our impact on the environment.

• Could you give some concrete examples of some initiatives and results?

At DPDgroup, we believe that it is key to be a valuable stakeholder, which is why we engage with local authorities to anticipate and react quickly to new requirements and legislation.

We set up urban depots close to high-density areas and invest on an alternative, low-emission delivery fleet that relies on natural gas, electric vehicles, and cargobikes.

We continuously strive to minimise the environmental footprint of our fleet on exhaust emissions and pollutants, by using the latest Euro Standard and deploying the latest technology vehicles. On top of that, we compensate all remaining carbon emissions through our certified offsetting programmes on clean energy production. We therefore make every parcel we deliver carbon neutral at no extra cost for our customers.

• How does DPDgroup address the need for sustainable, last-mile delivery?

Throughout Europe, DPDgroup has rolled out more than 40 smart urban delivery solutions. The strength of DPDgroup lays in its ability to have a global approach whilst adapting perfectly to local specifics.

In London, the Westminster urban depot is an all-electric last mile delivery site. This depot is also home to the first DPD UK owned Pickup shop, with a dedicated access point for consumers collecting parcels from the site.

In Warsaw, 9 urban depots offer an on-site dressing room, allowing consumers to try on their purchases and return if need be.

• How do you envision the last mile delivery?

Thanks to a comprehensive digitalisation, last mile delivery in 10 to 20 years will be fully flexible and personalized. By using digital interfaces, consignees will have access to various delivery options – the doorstep being one of many possibilities, while alternative delivery options will be far more numerous and frequent than today. The number of parcels delivered in cities should increase drastically; new delivery solutions should be designed to allow citizen to receive their parcel in smart cities environments. Future delivery fleet will consist of a vast range of alternative vehicles: trucks, vans, cargo bikes, e-scooters, completed with rolling and flying autonomous vehicles.

• How is DPDgroup making a difference?

We mentioned earlier how we want to engage with the city authorities. The air quality is a real concern for them and for citizens, which is why we are implementing a project that aims at measuring the air quality through sensors on vans and urban locations such as depots or Pickup points. Once collected, the data is used through an online platform to create different maps enabling to show the “hotspots” of PM 2.5 (* PM2.5 refers to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) at different level of precision (from dot view to city view). The map can be seen by day, week, month or season.

This project was tested in three European cities and aims at being rolled out throughout Europe. This will bring benefits both to cities that will have the opportunity to efficiently tackle the air quality issues by making data based decisions on mitigation initiatives and new traffic regulations. And to end-consumers who will have access to an air quality diagnosis at their doorstep.

• What role does sustainability play in the transport & logistics sector?

Logistics is the backbone of the economy largely sustained by international trade. At the same time, regulations are becoming stricter and consumers are more and more sensitive to the environmental topics.

Logistics companies have a responsibility to act in a sustainable mannern,measure and reduce continually their impact on the environment, by adapting their processes and innovate.. Climate change makes this topic even more accurate and position sustainability as a key priority for all economic players.

About DPDgroup

DPDgroup is Europe’s second largest parcel delivery network.

DPDgroup combines innovative technology and local knowledge to provide a flexible and user-friendly service for both shippers and shoppers. With its industry-leading Predict service, DPDgroup is setting a new standard for convenience by keeping customers closely in touch with their delivery.

With more than 75,000 delivery experts and a network of more than 42,000 Pickup points, DPDgroup delivers 5.2 million parcels each day through the brands DPD, Chronopost, SEUR and BRT.

DPDgroup is the parcel delivery network of GeoPost, which posted sales of €7.3 billion in 2018. GeoPost is a holding company owned by Le Groupe La Poste.