
The trailer manufacturer, Schmitz Cargobull, has been granted planning permission to extend the company’s delivery area for refrigerated and box body semi-trailers at its Vreden site in Germany. Following approval, construction is expected to begin in the first half of this year, lasting for around 12 months.
The project includes an extra 11 hectare area and 750 new parking spaces. This will bring the manufacturer’s storage for completed trailers much closer to the site, minimising travel needed to transport the vehicles ready for collection. Currently, Schmitz Cargobull rents external parking areas to store finished vehicles. On completion, the new area of the facility will reduce the company’s rented areas from more than 20 to around 10. The 10 external parking locations are positioned as close as possible to the Vreden plant with the furthest being 6km away.
Plant director, Christian Glebe, said: “The large parking area on site is also important in terms of sustainability. At the moment, we have to park some vehicles a number of kilometres away from the plant until they are ready to be picked up by the customer, as there is not enough parking space at the delivery centre.
“Thanks to the 750 extra parking spaces, the number of transport kilometres required can be reduced by around 200,000 kilometres a year, which corresponds to a saving of around 80 per cent. This will significantly reduce strain on local traffic and will also cut CO2 emissions from our in-house transport by around 80%, which will save approximately 150 tonnes of CO2 per year.”
Schmitz Cargobull is also improving its sustainability credentials by using electric yard vehicles to cut emissions and decrease noise pollution. Glebe met with Michael Franek, head of production technology at Schmitz Cargobull and expansion project lead, Dr Tom Tenostendarp, Mayor of Vreden and Joachim Hartmann, head of urban development, city of Vreden to discuss the new building plans.