Telematics and Electrification to Drive Last-mile Delivery Optimization and Efficiencies

​E-commerce and globalization have changed the parcel delivery industry forever. However, while parcel volumes keep increasing so does the price of fuel, competition and pressure to reduce inner-city congestion. Therefore, the likes of UPS, FedEx, DHL, TNT and other delivery fleets are under pressure to cut costs and act in a sustainable manner. For these reasons ABI Research believes that using electric vehicles (EVs) in conjunction with telematics is a no brainer for last-mile delivery and supporting “green fleet” initiatives.

EVs in delivery fleets have a huge market potential: for example DHL has approximately 300 thousand vans worldwide. Several organizations have demonstrated that using EVs the last mile of delivery can be virtually emission free. For instance, TNT introduced EVs in London, DHL is switching to EV delivery in Bonn and FedEx announced it will be using EVs in both Washington and Latin America.

Filomena Berardi senior analyst at ABI Research had the following comments; “Delivery fleets are working hard to keep costs down; and telematics is still important for route planning and monitoring driver behavior. In fact the number of subscribers using telematics in this sector is set to reach over half a million by 2019. However, there’s a limit to how much telematics can do when fuel prices keep rising; and so using EVs for last-mile delivery makes a lot of sense. Going forward EVs are the future for last-mile delivery.”

These findings are part of ABI Research’s Commercial Telematics Market Research, which includes Research Analyses, Market Data, Insights, and Competitive Assessments.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com,or call +1.516.624.2500.