Supporting Antalis on the Road to Zero Emissions with Electric Truck Trial

Antalis has been a Dawsongroup truck and trailer customer since 2019, and operates eight tractor units, 13 trailers and three rigids supplied by us at a number of locations across the UK.

As a leading international distributor in its sector, the business plays an important role in improving its industry’s sustainability and is in the process of developing responsible end-to-end supply chain management.

For Mark Hadley, CDC Operations & UK Transport Manager, the question was: What does the Antalis fleet of the future look like? With an interest in alternatives to diesel, Mark was very keen to start testing new technologies.

In the face of ever-tightening environmental regulations and the end of fossil fuels on the horizon, he recognised that the company needed to start thinking about transitioning its fleet to alternative fuels now. The aim is for Antalis to be well-prepared when the time comes and in order to provide the same reliable service for its customers but with less impact on the environment.

We partnered with Antalis to take up the challenge. After a consultative discussion and a number of electrification meetings, our Contract Hire Manager, Chris Beckett, and David Price, DAF Electric Sales Specialist at HTC, arranged for an electric 19-tonne curtainside DAF LF demonstration truck to be loaned to Antalis for a week’s trial in November 2022.

Designed and built at the DAF factory in Leyland, Lancashire, the truck is one of three LF demonstrators, each fitted with curtainside, box or refrigerated bodies. Another twenty are part of the UK Government’s nationwide Battery Electric Truck Trial (BETT). Its purpose is to help UK Plc make informed decisions on switching from diesel to electric, by providing real-life data on vehicle use in a variety of operations. Details of the emission and financial savings resulting from the BETT are available on the dedicated Cenex website.

Understandably, as with any new technology, there is a degree of uncertainty as to whether it can meet the customers’ operational needs.

The Antalis trial was designed to allay those fears. Dipping its toe into the future, the company saw it as a great opportunity to:

• Be at the cutting edge of, and test, alternative fuel technology
• Evaluate the capabilities of an electric truck against its current fleet
• Learn how electrification might work on its routes
• Assess driver reaction and understand what training will be needed
• Understand the road to zero emissions’ timeline and how technology, infrastructure and capability might develop in the future
• Investigate the long-term potential of introducing electric trucks across its fleet, and understand what needs to be done to facilitate the transition

Prior to the truck going in, Antalis’s operational expectations were discussed and the correct power connection for charging the batteries was confirmed.

Continue reading to find out more about Dawsongroup truck and trailer’s solution for Antalis here.