Logistics player is on a mission to reduce CO2 emissions by moving to EV fleet.
Parcel delivery service DPD Ireland is to create 150 new jobs as it invests €3.2m to electrify its Irish fleet of vehicles.
The ElectriCity roll-out was launched in Dublin yesterday (30 April) and will spread to other urban locations across Ireland over the next three years.
‘It is our intention to have electric vehicles stationed in all of our depots in three years’
– DES TRAVERS
The 150 jobs will be created over the next 12 months, bringing total employment at the company to 1,300 people.
Electric dreams
30 of the new jobs will be directly part of the ElectriCity roll-out and the remaining 120 will be in countrywide services to facilitate future growth.
DPD Ireland is a subsidiary of DPD Group, the parcel delivery network of GeoPost, which posted sales of €6.8bn in 2017. DPD Ireland chief executive Des Travers said DPD will be the first parcel delivery company to have an electric depot.
“Through ElectriCity, 15 parcel delivery routes in Dublin will become all-electric routes. By the end of this year, as part of our bid to reduce our carbon output, DPD will have saved more than 20 tonnes of CO2 being emitted as a result of moving to an electric fleet,” he said.
Travers said DPD is committed to making every parcel delivered carbon-neutral by measuring CO2 emissions, striving to reduce them and offsetting the remaining ones.
The first 10 vehicles of the new electric fleet have arrived and are on the road from today.
“Another 15 have been ordered but the problem is supply and getting them into the country,” Travers said.
“While there is an urgent push to move to electric, from a commercial perspective it is still difficult to procure appropriate vehicles. It is our intention to have electric vehicles [EVs] stationed in all of our depots in three years,” he added.
The €3.2m investment will include purchasing the EVs, hiring personnel, employee training, acquiring the depots and refurbishment.
DPD operates 34 depots throughout Ireland, with its central sortation hub in Athlone. It currently employs 1,150 people and routed more than 20m parcels to delivery destinations last year.
The company, which recorded a turnover of €91.5m last year, expects to deliver 24m parcels to its customers in 2019.
