Ford has detailed how DHL Express has rolled out a single, repeatable electric van set-up across its European delivery network. According to Ford Pro, the same specification now works in all 27 countries in the network, helped by what the company calls digital conversions. Ford has released the story through its From the Road media channel, but has not published fleet volumes or a timeline in the mailing itself.
Ford has put out a story on how DHL Express has taken one van specification and repeated it across its European operation. The company frames it as a case of detail work rather than a single big announcement: get the van, the body and the fit-out right once, and the same package can be dropped into every market the courier operates in.
One specification, 27 countries
Ford Pro says the arrangement covers all 27 countries in DHL Express’s European delivery network, with the operator effectively copying the same efficiency into each of them. The vehicles are Ford Pro electric vans, and Ford credits so-called digital conversions — the process of designing and validating the load-space and body work digitally before it is built — as part of what makes the same layout repeatable market by market.
Why a common van set-up matters to a fleet
Large parcel operators usually end up with fleets that vary from country to country, because vans are ordered locally and fitted out by different converters. A common specification is attractive to an operator of this size because drivers, training, spare parts, racking and servicing can all be handled the same way wherever the van is based. Ford has not quantified any savings in this mailing, so any efficiency gain remains the company’s own description rather than a published figure.
What is still missing
The mailing is a teaser for a longer article on Ford’s From the Road site and carries no technical data. There is no stated number of vans, no delivery schedule, no battery, range or charging figures, and no named quote from either Ford or DHL Express. The accompanying press photograph is labelled as an E-Transit, but the text does not name the model.
Ford has published the full story on its From the Road media site.
Source: www.fromtheroad.ford.com