The logistics company Gebrüder Weiss and the consumer goods manufacturer Henkel are collaborating to implement an eco-friendly transport solution: from now on, a truck fully powered by CNG (compressed natural gas) will be carrying freight between the Henkel plants in Vienna and Kruševac in Serbia. For each return trip, the Gebrüder Weiss gas-powered truck will cover a distance of about 1,700 kilometers. The new, sustainable direct service scores very highly for its environmental footprint: the gas-powered truck saves about 20% of the CO2 on every trip, compared with a Euro-6 diesel truck.
“On this regular circuit, the truck will transport detergents and cleaning agents between Austria and Serbia two or three times a week, covering over 200,000 kilometers a year. We’re currently working with Gebrüder Weiss to see whether this transport solution could also be used on other routes,” says Patrick Csar, Logistics and Export Manager Supply Chain Laundry & Home Care at Henkel.
Long-standing logistics partnership
The partnership between Gebrüder Weiss and Henkel goes back over 25 years. By now, the logistics company carries out large numbers of shipments by land and sea between various Henkel production locations in Europe and Asia. Since 2016, Gebrüder Weiss has also been responsible for transporting detergent products from the Henkel location at Körösladány in Hungary to over 20 countries worldwide, chiefly the USA, Australia, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Korea.
Third gas-powered truck
For Gebrüder Weiss, the gas-powered truck for Henkel is already the third truck of this kind and represents another step in the testing out of eco-friendly drive technologies in everyday logistics work. Other gas-powered trucks are already in service at the locations in Vienna and Memmingen. Since September 2018, the company has also been testing a fully electric truck in the urban area of Vienna. This is primarily associated with the attempt to electrify urban delivery traffic, where zero emissions and reduced noise pollution are very important.
