EV Cargo company Jigsaw is undertaking a number of transport trials to determine the best options to help ABInBev meet its environmental targets – including the use of alternative fuel trucks and longer semi-trailers.
In a bid to boost its green credentials, the world’s largest brewer recently set new environmental targets and asked suppliers to help in making the supply chain even more sustainable.
CM Downton and Jigsaw combined forces and came up with a number of options which are currently being trialled to assess which has the greatest benefit to both cut transport miles and reduce emissions across the ABInBev contract.
Jigsaw has finished piloting a bio-diesel fuelled Mercedes Actros. The unit was used continuously, making short-haul customer deliveries during the day and undertaking longer internal stock trunks at nights.
In association with Gasrec, Jigsaw is also set to assess an LNG-powered truck over the next four weeks, running primarily between the ABInBev brewery at Magor and its warehouse in Tilbury.
Alongside alternative fuel options, the companies are also exploring fleet optimisation opportunities to reduce carbon emissions. A number of bespoke 15.6m longer semi-trailers have joined the fleet, mainly used for the repositioning of drinks kegs back to breweries, to help increase load capacity and cut road miles.
Jigsaw is also working in conjunction with EV Cargo company Palletforce to develop a reverse logistics solution to efficiently collect smaller shipments from customers and suppliers to feed back into the ABInBev supply chain.
Andy Humpherson, Jigsaw managing director, said: “The ethos of the EV Cargo group is to deliver sustainable logistics solutions leveraging the latest technology and competencies of the wider group companies. This is a great example of how we can work together to help our customers meet their environmental targets while providing new opportunities to improve fleet utilisation and enhance network operations for ABInBev.”
Irina Gerver, ABInBev Transport Planning Supervisor UK & Ireland, said: “We rely on our partners not just to play a key role in the supply chain for ABInBev products but also to take the lead when it comes to new ideas to help ensure minimal impact on the environment. This study will provide us with accurate data to make informed decisions on how we can move forward with Jigsaw to reduce our environmental footprint and enhance sustainability.”
