UPS has introduced five ebikes to carry deliveries in Sweden and Denmark in a bid to reduce emissions.
The cargo bikes will operate in the Swedish capital Stockholm, the Danish capital Copenhagen and Aarhus, also in Denmark.
The bikes are electrically assisted and can carry up to 100kg in their front-fitted box. Employees will cycle to and from local neighbourhood hubs to ferry the deliveries.
UPS has calculated that the bikes will replace 350 daily stops which previously would have been powered by fossil fuels. This will mean three fewer 7.50-tonne diesel delivery vehicles in Denmark and one fewer in Sweden.
Frank Jørgensen, country manager of UPS Nordics, said: “Copenhagen and Stockholm plan to be carbon-neutral cities by 2025 and 2040 respectively, and as a company looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint, we are proud to be part of this effort.
“UPS has set itself the ambitious goal to reduce the absolute greenhouse gas emissions of its global ground operations by 12% by 2025. Increasing our use of ebikes is an important part of how we plan to achieve this goal.”
Bikes are most suitable in the final stages of delivery. A University of Washington study in May last year modelled a range of delivery scenarios to determine whether bikes or vans costed more, varying distance from the distribution centre and the number of parcels per stop.
It found that bikes are most cost-effective for distances of up to two miles and a delivery route of below 20 parcels.
