Mailboxes in Amsterdam are now also emptied using electric cargo bicycles. As of June 2017, PostNL will also deliver parcels in the evenings on e-cargo bicycles. In Amsterdam, PostNL is thus replacing 100 Diesel delivery van rides with sustainable e-cargo bicycle delivery. This will reduce carbon emissions by approximately 60,000kg per year. This way, PostNL wants to contribute to clean city centres and improve accessibility in the city centre. After Amsterdam, the cities of Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam and other major cities will follow.

Expansion after successful trial run

Mail deliverers have delivered the mail on foot or by bicycle for years. PostNL uses delivery vans to empty mailboxes and to collect and deliver large amounts of mail to businesses. In 2016, PostNL did a trial run to replace delivery vans with electric cargo bicycles and small electric vehicles in the centre of Amsterdam. PostNL opted for e-cargo bicycles, as the company wants to make its transportation greener, and because traffic density in cities is increasing. E-cargo bicycles are emission-free and the trial run showed that in the centre of Amsterdam, delivery by e-cargo bicycle is sometimes even faster than by delivery van. As of 1 June 2017, PostNL is expanding the area to include most of Amsterdam. On a daily basis, the company will replace 100 car rides with emission-free bicycle kilometres using 60 e-cargo bicycles. For this, PostNL will add eight special bicycle transfer points to its existing network. At these locations, mail and parcels are loaded into the e-cargo bicycles and delivered efficiently.

Parcels delivered by e-bike

As a major logistics e-commerce company, PostNL’s ambition is to deliver emission-free in 25 city centres by 2025. For this, PostNL and various governments and other companies signed the Green Deal for Zero Emission City Logistics. In 2017, the company will also deliver mail exclusively on foot, by bicycle or with electric vehicles on all Wadden Islands.

In collaboration with FuturumShop, PostNL has run tests in Amsterdam since February 2017 to see how it can deliver parcels cleanly, quickly and flexibly with the e-cargo bicycle. FuturumShop is an online retailer of bicycles and bicycle parts. As of June 2017, PostNL will deliver the majority of its parcels in the evenings using e-cargo bicycles within the Ring A10 area. In the future, PostNL will be delivering more parcels to various city centres with e-bikes and other electric vehicles.

Source: PostNL