This month, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG will begin testing a digital solution, passify, which allows truckers to access the Hamburg container terminals in a safer and more efficient way. The passify app will replace the current truck handling process involving the trucker card. The product was developed by HHLA Next, the innovation unit of HHLA.

HHLA Executive Board member Jens Hansen: “With passify, we are considerably increasing security and efficiency at our facilities in Hamburg. We are working on digitalising terminal handling to such an extent that our facilities become the standard for other terminals in terms of digitalisation. HHLA is using such projects to underpin its claim to being a driver of innovation in logistics.”

The passify app is initially revolutionising truck handling at HHLA’s terminals in Hamburg by both increasing the security of truck access and simplifying the handling process for truck drivers. In future, more than 6,000 truck drivers who transport containers to and from HHLA’s terminals in Hamburg every day will have access to all the necessary information directly on their smartphones via passify. The smartphone app is fully integrated into terminal processes and digitalises the processes at the gates. The system accompanies truck drivers along the entire handling process and thereby simplifies it. Furthermore, passify offers drivers a mobile self-service terminal in one app.

Since all drivers can clearly identify themselves using passify, access to the terminals also becomes safer. At the same time, entry processes at the gates are simplified since access is only granted to authorised truck drivers. passify upholds security and data protection standards and meets all requirements of the ISPS Code, which applies around the world.

HHLA will begin to replace the conventional plastic trucker cards with passify at its Hamburg sites this year. Testing of the smartphone app will begin in July and will be gradually expanded to include all HHLA sites in Hamburg.

All haulage companies will then begin to receive access to passify and will be actively supported while switching from the trucker card to the app. They will also receive information about how drivers can register and verify their identities to use the app on their smartphones. Following its successful introduction at the HHLA terminals in Hamburg, additional terminal operators will be able to use the practical digital tool at their gates. We intend to make passify the standard for other stakeholders at the port as well.

CEVA Logistics recently launched a new international road transport route along the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan corridor, opening new trade routes in China and central Asia. The opening of the new route is expected to boost trade growth among the three countries and deliver benefits across the region.

CEVA Logistics held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the launch of the new route as the shipment convoy of six trucks departed from western China’s inland city of Kashgar, crossing into Kyrgyzstan. Loaded with industrial components, auto parts and consumer goods, the first TIR trucks on the new route successfully arrived in Uzbekistan’s second-largest city, Samarkand, after approximately 1,100 kilometers.

Joanna Zhu, Managing Director of Greater China, CEVA Logistics, said: “With the successful pilot, CEVA is expecting more regular TIR operations on this new route with around 100 trucks every month. CEVA will continue to optimize ground and rail product portfolios to open direct routes while strengthening intermodal capabilities. We will develop more trade lanes from China to the west and enhance trade resilience along the corridor.”

Southern Corridor facilitates regional trade

Central Asia is the main passage along the Han-Tang Silk Road. The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Ground Transportation Corridor is concrete example of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative. The opening of a southern passage has the capacity to change the entire transportation pattern of Western China. The southern corridor is expected to broaden the transportation range of the Eurasian Continental Bridge. As more logistics parks settle in Kashgar, export companies shipping goods such as auto parts, finished vehicles, and consumer and eCommerce goods will greatly benefit from the new route. As the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan route becomes more established, CEVA anticipates making Kashgar a ground consolidation center for Western China.

In addition to the TIR solution, CEVA continues to explore and strengthen its multimodal solutions and open new direct routes as infrastructure in the region develops. Current plans call for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway to be completed in 2025 and will make it the shortest freight route from China to the Middle East and Europe. The railway is expected to span more than 500 kilometers—more than 200 in China, 250 in Kyrgyzstan and the final 50 kilometers in Uzbekistan.

Yan Zhou, Chief Representative of East and Southeast Asia, IRU, said: “IRU and CEVA Logistics have established fruitful cooperation since TIR was implemented in China in 2018. From the historic first China-Europe round-trip TIR pilots to the recent new TIR route along the strategically important China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan corridor, IRU has been partnering with members to develop innovative trucking services under TIR. Together with our members and partners, IRU will continue to promote faster, safer and more efficient road connectivity between the East and the West.”

CEVA Logistics has been an IRU member since 2019, and CEVA’s global leader for cross-border and multimodal solutions, Kelvin Tang, was recently awarded the IRU New Industry Shapers award in acknowledgment of his accomplishments in pioneering TIR transportation in China and promoting Asia-Europe trade.

Leading parcel delivery company DPD UK is set to trial an innovative, new mobile powerbank charging concept that could provide a solution for commercial van drivers unable to charge their vehicles at home overnight.

The OnCharge ZIR0 prototype charging system will be trialed at DPD’s Bicester eco-depot – the most sustainable facility in the company’s UK network. The multi-van trial will allow drivers to collect a take-home powerbank from the depot, before driving home. The prototype power bank will charge the main traction battery of the van overnight, resulting in a 100% charge by the start of the driver’s day.

The prototype is the world’s first purpose-built ruggedised powerbank, designed for fleet commercial vehicles. With a real operating capacity of 50kWh, the system is designed to improve the Electric Light Commercial Vehicle (eLCV) driver experience. The OnCharge system takes just 90 seconds to load in the evening, and unload in the morning.

The OnCharge system has the potential to provide a solution to drivers that don’t have access to off-street parking and will help avoid reliance on public charging.

The prototype trials will allow OnCharge and DPD engineers to gather field data and review driver feedback. It will also provide insight into potential integration with DPD’s Bicester on-site solar panel array.

The trial is part of OnCharge Energy’s Field Test and Development programme and a key step towards scaling up customer production in late 2023.

DPD’s aim is to be the most sustainable parcel delivery company in the UK and the company is on track to have over 4,000 electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by the end of this year, when it will be delivering to 30 towns and cities using electric vehicles only. Nearby Oxford was DPD’s first ‘green city’, with all deliveries made by the Bicester eco-depot’s zero emission delivery vehicles.

Olly Craughan, Head of Sustainability, DPD UK commented, “It’s fantastic to work with OnCharge to try this system in the real-world. Working together will give us the opportunity to really understand the impact it can have on our drivers first-hand. It allows both us and OnCharge to see how the system works under different scenarios and allows our transport and sustainability teams to explore how an agile powerbank model can amplify our investment in EV and on-site renewable generation.”

Philip Clarke, CEO OnCharge Energy commented, “In terms of productivity, the most efficient time to charge a commercial EV is overnight, but around 70% of fleet van drivers can’t charge at home. We believe that a take-home powerbank that you can collect at the end of the working day could revolutionise commercial EV fleet management and help encourage more drivers to switch to EVs. DPD already have a huge amount of experience running a large EV fleet and the Bicester eco-depot is the perfect place to trial our solution. We are looking forward to working with the team and hopefully making their EV fleet even more efficient and effective.”