FedEx Office pilots Ford E-Transit vans for FedEx SameDay City service in 9 pilot markets
10 August 2022
FedEx Office, in collaboration with Ford Pro, is piloting 10 Ford E-Transit vans across its FedEx SameDay City network as part of the goal to transition its entire pickup and delivery fleet to zero tailpipe emission vehicles by 2040.
FedEx SameDay City is the company’s local shipping option, which offers door-to-door delivery of time-sensitive parcels within hours with real-time notifications.
The vehicles are being tested in nine markets coast-to-coast to assess performance in different road and weather conditions: Chandler, Ariz.; Newark, Calif.; Boca Raton, Fla.; Clearwater, Fla.; Plantation, Fla.; Chicago, Ill.; Madison Heights, Mich.; Allen, Texas; and Frisco, Texas.
The Ford E-Transit has a targeted range of 126 miles on a single charge, making it suitable for local courier delivery. FedEx Office has installed charging stations dedicated to these vehicles at each van’s home location and will supplement with remote charging stations in each market as needed to meet charging needs along courier routes.
FedEx has set a goal to achieve global carbon-neutral operations by 2040. This goal includes transforming the entire FedEx parcel pickup and delivery fleet to all-electric, zero-tailpipe emissions vehicles by 2040. As part of this transition, FedEx Office is first to test the Ford E-Transit for FedEx and it help FedEx Office better understand how to transition to electric transportation operations.
Roxo
In addition to the Ford E-Transit, Roxo, the FedEx SameDay Bot, is being designed for same-day, last-mile delivery. As e-commerce volumes continue to rise, Roxo could help transform the future of shipping and logistics by making widespread same-day, last-mile delivery a reality while providing a safer, more sustainable solution with reduced street traffic and emissions.
Here is a study of last mile delivery options including picking them up yourself in an SUV, which is pretty favourable to drones:
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-carbon-emissions-grocery-evs-home.html
Locally in my high density urban neighborhood, we have a fair few electrically assisted trikes, which are probably hard to beat for efficiency, although this sounds good to me, from my link:
' For the full 36-item basket, home delivery by a suitcase-size "sidewalk robot" did best. Those four- or six-wheeled autonomous machines have a delivery range of 2 miles and are being tested in cities in the United States, China and Europe but are not widely available.'
I am a fan of local fulfillment centers, which can mean far less deliveries.
Effective road costing would encourage this.
Posted by: Davemart | 10 August 2022 at 03:42 AM
And here is an article on last mile logistics using cargo bikes:
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-cargo-bike-deliveries-green-e-commerce.html
Posted by: Davemart | 10 August 2022 at 09:53 AM
In addition to UPS and FedEx, Amazon has bet big on the home delivery business as it currently operates 70,000 'Prime 'vans and has 100,000 BEV vans on order from Rivian.
Additionally, WalMart is entering the home delivery business in a big way and has 5,000 BEV vans on order from Canoo, with an option for 10,000 more.
Posted by: Lad | 10 August 2022 at 02:27 PM