Schmitz Cargobull welcomes EcoDuo pilot project in Germany

During the one-year pilot phase in Germany, the EcoDuo will travel between the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg and the MegaHub, located 70 kilometres away in Lehrte near Hannover.

The Volkswagen Group is providing the fixed transport route; prior to the project, the route was served exclusively by HGVs taking production containers between Wolfsburg and Spain. Now, the global logistics provider Sesé will be driving the EcoDuo from the VW plant to the terminal in Lehrte, which is run by two German transshipment companies Deutsche Umschlaggesellschaft Schiene-Straße and Kombiverkehr.

From there, the semi-trailers will be transported 1,700 kilometres by rail to Spain using Kombiverkehr KG’s network for environmentally friendly transport. At a transshipment station in Barcelona, the individual semi-trailers will be connected to an EcoDuo combination again and then transported on the road by Sesé until they reach their destination. TÜV-Rheinland is supervising the pilot project with regard to road traffic regulations and academic aspects.

Using real-life operations as its basis, the one-year pilot project aims to assess the opportunities and risks of the EcoDuo vehicle combination and calculate the potential savings on the road and at terminals. The results of the pilot project will be summarised in a final report.

Andreas Schmitz: “With the cooperation of all the partners involved, we have built a broad foundation for this pilot project. It is a great starting point for achieving a high level of general acceptance. With the EcoDuo, we are underlining our European outlook as the vehicle meets most common standard dimensions and can be easily used for intermodal transport, including on trains. That is why we regard the EcoDuo as an environmentally and economically efficient transport solution for use across Europe.”

When compared to a conventional truck and one trailer with a 40 tonnes total articulated vehicle weight, the EcoDuo concept offers the following advantages: 
- Reduced fuel consumption and, as a result, lower carbon emissions per transported tonne 
- Lower single axle loads
- Increased road capacity or reduction of traffic due to the use of fewer vehicles with more capacity 
- Less strain on roads and bridges due to lower axle loads and fewer articulated vehicles 
- Solution to the driver shortages – One driver, two semi-trailers for long-haul journeys. 

The EcoDuo from the pilot project will be on show at the IAA TRANSPORTATION 2024 at booth T81 outdoors. 

Find out about the EcoDuo and the pilot project: https://schmitz.cargobull.com/ecoduo-en