As part of a field experiment, the mobile depot will be parked in Parc du Cinquantenaire for three months starting today. Deployment of the mobile depot will see the replacement of TNT Express vans by electric tricycles (‘cyclocargos’) in Schaerbeek, Etterbeek and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode. This will eliminate 900 kilometres of van movements each week in an often congested area. The resulting lower CO2 emissions and noise will help improve the Brussels living environment.
The mobile depot is a large custom-designed trailer built to serve as a storage and sorting centre between the TNT Express hub at Brucargo and the centre of Brussels. The electric cycles will be loaded at the mobile depot and carry the parcels over the ‘final mile’ to addresses in Schaerbeek, Etterbeek and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode to speed up deliveries to shops and offices in the busy inner-city. The electric tricycles are run by the cycle courier firm Ecopostale. The project was set up in association with Straightsol, a consortium supported financially by the European Commission.
How it works
The mobile depot is a trailer equipped with various facilities, subdivided into an office area and an area for loading, unloading and sorting. On one side, the mobile depot can be extended outwards and a lift provides access to the electric cycles to load and unload parcels. The depot can hold 11 containers for the parcels. Each day, the mobile depot will drive from the TNT Express hub at Brucargo to the car park at Parc du Cinquantenaire where it will remain stationary. During travel, the mobile depot has normal truck dimensions (14 x 2.5 m). When parked, the trailer is extended automatically to its full size of 14 x 6.5 m.
