Fürth. More than 170 decision-makers from the transport and logistics industry accepted the invitation from the two hosts, Schaeffler Technologie and transaktuell, to the first Zero Emission Summit in the event rooms of the second division football club Greuther Fürth. Together, they exchanged experiences and ideas on how the drive turnaround in the industry can succeed.
This day was particularly exciting for nine companies, as the informative presentations and discussions at the summit were followed by the Eco Performance Awards ceremony. Roland Rüdinger, Managing Director of Rüdinger Spedition GmbH, was also eagerly awaiting the announcement of the award winners. The TOP 100 innovator from Krautheim was nominated as a finalist in the category “Large Companies” and was in the finale with Benjamin Roßmann, Managing Director of Spedition Ansorge GmbH & Co. The joy was particularly great when the laudator Josef Perisa, CEO of Transcoop09 AG, announced Rüdinger Spedition from Krautheim as the winner. “The decision was a neck-and-neck race and the jury didn’t make it easy for themselves,” explains Perisa.
The Eco Performance Award honors companies that combine ecological, economic and social responsibility with innovative ideas in their business models. It is the leading award in the logistics industry and highlights sustainable concepts as a key driver for the future. The assessment is divided into the categories of innovation, start-up, small company and large company.
Rüdinger won the multi-stage application process with a well-founded concept for the economical use of battery-powered trucks. For Roland Rüdinger, one thing is clear: “We will be driving purely electrically in local transport by 2030.” With a total of eight battery-powered trucks, the Eco Performance Award winner is already part of the spearhead in Germany. The vehicles are used for local transportation and supply the region. The entrepreneur would like to build on this. The next step is to further electrify groupage transport.
For decades, the Rüdinger team has been working on the optimal and environmentally friendly use of trucks as a resource: “Every combustion-powered truck that rolls down the road produces CO2. We have long since set ourselves the task of optimizing vehicles and vehicle technology so that CO2 emissions are as low as possible. For example, we make even better use of the loading space by using double-decker technology. By using long trucks, we can save up to 50% CO2 immediately. With the use of battery-powered trucks, local CO2-neutral transportation is possible,” explains Rüdinger.
What sounds so simple also entails extreme cost increases in addition to a lack of experience. An electric truck is 200% more expensive than a diesel model. Added to this is the installation of the necessary charging infrastructure, which is also associated with high costs. Nevertheless, Rüdinger is looking determinedly to the future and is offering regional companies the opportunity to handle their transportation electrically. This allows companies to remove these transportation services from their carbon footprint because they no longer consume CO2.
(German press release: Rüdinger Spedition GmbH)
