Sustainability: trans-o-flex converts company car fleet to electric vehicles

• Clean and quiet: All of the more than 200 company car drivers at Expressdienst, which specialises in transporting pharmaceuticals, will be provided with electric vehicles
• Conversion as a further step towards the goal of operating with a carbon-neutral footprint by 2045

In January, trans-o-flex Expressdienst started using the first two electric cars for its fleet of more than 200 company vehicles. "We have decided to convert the entire company car fleet to electric vehicles," said CEO Wolfgang P. Albeck. "For us, this is another step towards our goal of being carbon-neutral throughout the company by 2045 at the latest."

According to Albeck, after testing various electrically powered delivery vehicles, trans-o-flex is still forced to stick to modern diesel engines for its truck fleet. "As a specialist for the transport of sensitive goods, especially pharmaceuticals, our requirements in terms of range, payload and cooling capacity are not yet met by electric vehicles. We are always testing new models, but so far, the most we can do is use them for selected, special routes without jeopardising our performance promise."

The new company car scheme at trans-o-flex stipulates that from now on all employees who receive a new vehicle will choose one of three models with an all-electric or hybrid drive. The vehicles are not only quieter, but their CO2 emissions are considerably lower than those of the diesel vehicles used to date. According to the manufacturer, the CO2 emissions of the three vehicle types that will make up the company car fleet in future are 0 g/km (motorway and urban traffic combined) for the Skoda ENYAQ 60 iV (all-electric). For the plug-in hybrids Skoda Superb 1.4 tsi and Skoda Octavia 1.4 tsi, the figure is 30 g/km. 

Sustainability managers drive the first two electric vehicles

The first two electric company vehicles will be driven by two new sustainability managers from trans-o-flex. The aim of these positions, which were created in the last quarter of 2021, is primarily the further development and planning of trans-o-flex’s sustainability strategy as well as the implementation of the plans in actual management processes. Together with a team of specialists, their tasks also include the further development of suitable KPIs as well as contacts with environmental protection organisations, energy and waste management associations, research and development institutions in the field of sustainability. "In terms of an integrated sustainability concept, we want to have an impact both internally and externally, on employees as well as on customers and partners," adds CEO Albeck. "That’s why our sustainability managers and their team will also be developing and implementing concepts to increase environmental awareness and social commitment, to refine our annual emissions balance, to take care of customer-specific CO2 balances and, in regular exchange with the specialist departments, to reduce further CO2 emissions in a targeted manner at the operational level as well."