New micro depot tests joint use by 4 CEP service providers in Hamburg

Hamburg is now home to another piece of innovative logistics. On the 18 January 2021, a new micro deport located close to the Old Town area started a service for last-mile deliveries by cargo bike.

The depot is used by Rewe, Hermes, UPS and Deutsche Post together and will run in a 'test mode' until late 2021. Hamburg’s Old Town area is structured with little public space which makes accessibility an issue. The test of the depot aims to reduce the use of public space by delivery vans and cut down air pollution at the same time.

The depot in the Buchardstrasse is run by a neutral service provider, the Hamburger Hochbahn AG, to safeguard the provision and use of the depot on equal terms among the CEP service providers. They simply stock the depot by vans and then deliver the shipments to the addressees by cargo bikes. Hermes announced the use of 4 cargo bikes to handle 8,500 deliveries per month using the depot.

Anjes Tjarks, Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition, stated: “Hamburg is pioneering the use of cargo bikes on the last mile. Parcels and goods will reach the customer cleanly, safely and quietly from the micro depot aboard cargo bikes. At the same time, congestion and pollution in narrow streets in the city centre will be noticeably reduced. The model project makes an important contribution to the mobility transition in Hamburg."

The test of the micro depot is part of the project “Reallabor Hamburg” (reality lab Hamburg) finaced by the German government’s 'National Platform for the Future of Mobility'. The depot will be available to be used by other partners (than the 4 original CEP service providers), too, such as retailers wishing to optimise their delivery chains.

Article published first at Hamburg News on 15th of January 2021.