The shift to electric is a new episode

With sustainability and electrification top of the agenda for many companies, electric trucks could be the difference between winning and losing contracts.  
 

“For our big clients, that's one of their main goals,” says Hans-Peter Dreier, CEO of Dreier Transport and Logistics. “The contracts from clients are more and more demanding. They say in the future they want some routes made by electric trucks – when can you do it?” 
 

Hans-Peter believes being early with a fleet of electric trucks puts his company ahead of the competition during tenders. So rather than wait for his customers to demand electric trucks, Hans-Peter is seizing the advantage by offering it to his clients now. 

He describes the shift to electric as a “new episode”, one which will eventually see diesel being replaced by electric, especially for scenarios like Dreier’s which uses a combination of rail for long distances and electric trucks for cleaner city delivery. 
 

“We make a lot of combined rail and road transport,” says Hans-Peter. Dreier, which works internationally, sends swap bodies overnight on trains, where they are picked up the following morning by truck and driven the last few kilometres to their destination. 
 

It’s efficient and sustainable, especially when Dreier uses one of its fleet of 24 electric Volvo trucks. By 2026, the company is on track to expand to 75 electric trucks. “Once you start with electric trucks, you stay in,” says Hans-Peter. 
 

Hans-Peter sees no reason to be apprehensive: “The technology is already here,” he says. “You have to be open-minded - it works.” 
 

Business transformation and onboarding staff to a new technology is often challenging, but Dreier’s drivers adjusted to the electric trucks really well. “The adaption for the drivers was very quick. With Volvo, we have the advantage,” says Hans-Peter. “I made a tour [in an electric truck] in December and, after five minutes in the truck, everything was clear. It’s not really a change. For the driver, the change is only in the head.” 

Hans-Peter admits that at the beginning his drivers were concerned about range anxiety. “They were afraid of what happens when they have 5, 10, 15% battery left. But that’s normal. It’s a new thing,” he adds. “Once they have driven an electric truck, the drivers don’t want to change.”