The DAF drivelines in the truck manufacturer’s range of LF distribution trucks have been given a makeover.
As a result, they offer an increase in fuel efficiency of up to 7% compared with the current model.
The 7% saving in fuel efficiency is dependant on application.
Main changes relate to the PACCAR PX-5 and PX-7 engines and also the introduction of the company’s 8-Speed PowerLine gearboxes.
Therefore, both of the DAF drivelines have been completely redesigned.
The engine duo use a new lightweight but strong, compacted graphite iron (CGI) block.
In addition, a cast-iron cylinder head is used, along with new low-friction pistons.
Completing the spec are new efficient compressors and a new waste-gate turbo.
In total, the new PACCAR PX engines for the DAF LF series are available in seven output ratings.
This spread allows the distribution truck range to meet all customer requirements.
PACCAR’s 4.5-litre PX-5 engine is available with outputs from 170hp to 210hp.
Meanwhile, the larger, 6.7-litre PX-7 has options from 230hp to 310hp.
The engines develop peak torque at even lower engine speeds, therefore supporting down-speeding and the improved fuel efficiency.
Continuing, the new DAF driveline in the LF has a new 8-speed, fully automatic PowerLine transmission, which features optimal gear spread and steps.
Powershifting without any torque interruption, for example, enables smooth shifts and quick throttle response.
The result is improved comfort and driveability.
In addition, the new transmissions provide outstanding low speed manoeuverability. These characteristics are enabled by an ‘urge-to-move’ feature upon releasing the brake pedal.
Alongside the 8-speed transmission, 6- and 9-speed gearboxes remain available for the DAF LF series.
Furthermore, fully automatic Allison gearboxes will also be an option for special applications, such as refuse collection and firefighting.
Company to supply and supervise packaged sewage treatment plants
Veolia Water Technologies Gulf was recently awarded a contract by Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons (Al-Kharafi) to supply, supervise, install and commission 53 AnoxKaldnes Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) packaged sewage treatment plants.
Veolia plant
This order is the largest ever received by Veolia for this type of packaged plants and will allow for 40,000 m3 of water to be reused each day in water-scarce Kuwait.
The compact and packaged sewage treatment units will be installed at various locations throughout the country where they will compensate a shortage in sewage handling.
Following treatment, the effluents will be reused for irrigation, therefore saving freshwater that would otherwise have been desalinated at high cost, particularly in terms of energy.
In Sabah Al Ahmad City, a planned community located 80km south of Kuwait City in Khiran Kuwait, 23 AnoxKaldnes MBBR package plants with a total treatment capacity of 17,000 cbm/day will be added to existing sewage treatment installations.
In West Abdullah City, new sewage treatment installations will be built and will include 27 package plants totalling 23,000 cbm/day. Finally, three more units will be installed as provisional items at other locations.
“After having worked on the Sulaibiya WWTP Expansion Project, we are honored to have been chosen by Al-Kharafi once again and we look forward to continuing our successful collaboration,” observed Thierry Froment, CEO, Veolia Water Technologies Middle East.
The first units will be delivered early in 2021, with all 53 units delivered in less than 12 months.
Carrier stays agile in a volatile air cargo environment
Turkish Cargo will soon provide global forwarders the ability to conduct real-time eBookings, access live rates, and see available air cargo capacity through WebCargo, a Freightos Group company. This provides critical agility as air cargo contends with unexpected shifts due to the global pandemic.
A Turkish Cargo freighter on the tarmac
“Live access to capacity and price supports our ongoing commitment to provide Hellman customers with outstanding service,” noted Christian Tesch, Director Airfreight Carrier Relations & Procurement at Hellmann Worldwide Logistics.
Turkish Cargo will first roll out on WebCargo in Spain and India, and will be quickly followed by roll outs in several more countries. With the airline’s shift to global eBookings, more than 20% of global air cargo capacity will now be digitized, providing more than 2,000 WebCargo forwarders customers across over 10,000 global branches with instant access to capacity and pricing.
“As the air cargo brand with one of the widest networks in the world, we focus on digital solutions,” remarked Turhan OZEN, Chief Cargo Officer, Turkish Airlines.
“In the past year, eBookings have increased tenfold on WebCargo, making it clear that the future of air cargo is digital,” commented Manel Galindo, CEO of WebCargo.
FedEx Express Europe has begun using renewable diesel– made from organic matter or waste materials – to fuel a portion of its company-owned trucks in the Netherlands.
As of the beginning of November, FedEx Express instructed the drivers of these heavyweight, long-distance vehicles to refuel using renewable diesel as an environmentally favourable alternative to fossil-fuel diesel. Trucks will use this fuel when they depart the recently reopened FedEx Express road-hub in Duiven, Netherlands.
The decarbonisation of the heavyweight transport sector is recognised as more challenging than parcel pick-up and delivery, where the transportation company has already outlined its goal to transition to a fully electric fleet by 2040. The required mileage range, time needed to refuel, and the fact that, by the very nature of their operation, heavy goods vehicles travel between territories means they often require refuelling in multiple countries.
Using synthetically-made diesel offers an interim solution with the promising ability to drive down ‘well-to wheel’ carbon emissions by as much as 80-90% per litre. It means that while technological solutions are still being developed to help the industry transition away from using fossil fuels altogether, we can already make decisions to influence and reduce our scope one carbon emissions in our linehaul truck network – those generated by our owned vehicles.
Vinay D’Souza, Senior Vice President Planning & Engineering, FedEx Express Europe
The opportunity for reducing emissions in linehaul trucking with this fuel depends not only on supply of the fuel, but also on the infrastructure. FedEx Express use of this renewable diesel is currently small-scale and limited to the Netherlands, where its use is encouraged on continental routes from the Netherlands.
The FedEx goal announced in March 2021, to achieve carbon-neutral operations globally by 2040, includes all FedEx owned and operated transportation including parcel pick-up and delivery, its extensive European linehaul truck network, and aircraft. It also includes the company’s scope three emissions that are generated by contracted transportation services that play a part in the FedEx network. By demonstrating support and adaptation of diesel alternatives, FedEx is striving to make alternative fuels more viable, scalable, and ultimately accessible across the industry, as solutions to decarbonise challenging transportation sectors in Europe.
DB Schenker is continuing to drive the green transformation in land transport and is consistently focusing on sustainable innovations. This week, the logistics service provider signed a cooperation agreement with Trailer Dynamics and the Krone Commercial Vehicle Group on the use of eTrailers in European land transport.
“This agreement marks a further step in the electrification of land transport,” says Cyrille Bonjean Executive Vice President Land Transport for DB Schenker in Europe. “It is essential for us to look for new sustainable solutions that can be integrated into our daily business. With the eTrailer from Trailer Dynamics, we have obtained another promising model for the future.”
Wolfgang Janda, Executive Vice President, Head of Network & Linehaul Management, DB Schenker, adds: “The use of eTrailers enables early entry into the phased transition to a completely CO2-free fleet. In our view, electric trailers do not represent a transitional technology but will instead be a firm component of our commercial vehicle fleet over the long term. This marks yet another step in our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint and become net-zero by 2040.”
Michael Nimtsch, Managing Director at Trailer Dynamics says: “The vision of Trailer Dynamics is to use eTrailers to make an important contribution to the decarbonization of the economy and sustainable and environmentally friendly logistics for long-haul trucks. With our cooperation partner DB Schenker, we are taking the next important step toward transforming this vision into reality.”
“Electrification, digitalization, automation, and decarbonization are the strategic goals that Krone will achieve with its innovative products – and especially the eTrailer. We are therefore very pleased that we not only share these goals with our long-standing customer DB Schenker; we are also jointly making them a reality with this eTrailer project.”, adds Dr. Stefan Binnewies, CEO of Krone Holding.
The use of eTrailers makes trucks more sustainable and lowers their CO2 emissions.
The electrified trailers of Trailer Dynamics have an electric drive train that makes it possible to support the drive of the tractor unit. A specially developed component uses a patented sensor system to determine the driving dynamics of the tractor-trailer combination and then readjusts the eTrailer so that the eTrailer supports the tractor unit. The tractor unit cannot be overridden at any time, however. The electric drive train also allows energy to be recovered during braking.
The eTrailer’s drive control system operates independently, so no interface with the tractor is necessary. In addition, the trailers can be combined and used with tractor units from all manufacturers. The eTrailers support diesel, gas, electric, and hydrogen-powered tractors.
The trailers can be equipped with 300kWh, 450kWh, or 600kWh batteries as required. This can extend the range of electric tractors by up to 500 km, depending on the use case, and also significantly reduce the fuel consumption of conventional diesel tractors. CO2 emissions can thus be reduced by 20%-40%.
The logistics provider will successively roll out these 2,000 eTrailers across its European network starting in 2024.
Known as the ‘1Hub,’ the £30m state-of-the-art groupage depot is the largest of its kind in the UK. Since it was constructed in 2015 at a key gateway location close to the Dartford Crossing, it has seen a 15 per cent increase year on year in the number of European road freight consignments being managed.
Europa’s 1Hub
Today a record 40,000 consignments per month pass through the terminal, thanks to the unique addition of Europa Flow, the firm’s frictionless customs product which optimises the movement of goods to and from the continent post-Brexit.
Dan Cook, Group Operations Director at Europa Worldwide Group, explained: “Europa takes bold steps to drive out complexity and deliver simple, effective transactions. For our Road network, developing the Dartford site has meant a significant restructure and investment to transform the 1Hub into the unique transit terminal it is today.
“We believe Dartford is an optimum location to consolidate groupage destined for the continent, or for goods arriving from it for onward distribution though out the UK, with cargo heading in its natural direction of travel to its end destination.
“Our 1Hub is one of the most simple, efficient and highest quality of any European distribution platforms, with a number of innovative operational concepts, all supported by excellent IT.
“These latest statistics are testament to how our road freight network infrastructure delivers the best solution for every type of shipment, as well as to the hard work of our teams working on the ground.”
With 37 direct European connections, and 12 daily connections to UK distribution platforms, 1Hub facilitates the movement of exported and imported goods effectively and is at the heart of Europa’s 16 strong branch network across the UK.
It is at Europa’s 1Hub that over 35 independent partners and 260 Europa trailers combine to ensure goods are moved seamlessly to and from the continent.
To mark these latest milestones, Europa has launched a new video. It takes viewers on a virtual tour of the site, showing how the latest technology boosts shipping efficiencies, drives down costs, delivers real-time visibility of goods and ensures customer satisfaction.
The footage highlights how consignments arrive in side-loaded trucks, as they do each night, from Europa’s domestic depots around the UK and Ireland. These are then discharged into the side of the building specifically designed to accommodate level access side loading.
The reverse process is also captured, illustrating how, on the opposite side of the building, the 1Hub’s design changes to accommodate trucks leaving for and arriving from the continent. In both cases, location control and customs clearance information are shown to all internal users to ensure slick handling and turnaround. The terminal is also racked, so each consignment is assigned a specific rack location. By using double deck trailers, the need for double stacking is removed, reducing the risk of any damage prior to onward movement.
Dan continued: “This video is all about giving an insight into how our high-tech, purpose-built 1Hub works day-to-day. It captures the scale of our super-sized facility – which is large enough to house seven football pitches – and shows the longstanding, dedicated and highly trained team in action as they safely manage the tried and tested site processes.
“Here, Europa performs the full range of processes to optimise flows, offering a highly competitive and comprehensive logistics infrastructure that reduces transit times through daily structured departures, and ensures high quality for our customers.
“No other European groupage freight operator works in this way, making Europa unique in how it keeps vital European supply chains moving. The introduction of Europa Flow – our market-leading, frictionless customs product – launched in response to Brexit, has played a crucial role over the past 18 months in ensuring this remains the case.”
Evidence compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows Brexit and the pandemic have negatively impacted on domestic and global supply chains. More than a quarter of UK firms have reported logistics disruptions, and one in twenty said they had made radical changes to supply chains as the transition period ended. For many, the focus is now on diversification and re-shoring to bring supplier links closer to home.
For Europa, this situation means there is an even greater need – particularly amidst predictions of a Eurozone downturn – to balance any risks with its continued ambition to set the pace in the market, helping customers adapt and optimise along the way. Europa Flow is proving pivotal to this approach, allowing customers the space to conduct their operations as ‘business as usual’ whilst they focus on building up future resilience.
