The Dutch city of Utrecht has a new way to remove trucks from the central city in order to improve air quality and reduce congestion. While some freight is already being delivered directly to stores in the city by barge on the city’s canal network, the new Cargohopper service—an electric “truck train” that brings cargo into the urban core from a transfer point 10 km outside the city—is enabling businesses without canal access to bring in goods without trucks. In addition, the Cargohopper also picks up materials for recycling from businesses in the city, thus increasing efficiency and avoiding empty return trips. A video describing the Cargohopper is available here.
FedEx’s plug for electric vehicles is available here.