Our electric trucks have never let us down

“If there's an electric solution to it, we will invest in electric,” says Marcel Vermeulen, operational manager at Millenaar & van Schaik Transport. 

We meet Marcel at one of Millenaar & van Schaik’s latest projects: a scheme to reinforce 19 kilometres of river dike in the Netherlands. The company has three emissions-free electric Volvo tipper trucks in this operation and operates eighteen electric Volvo tipper trucks in total.  Millenaar & van Schaik was chosen because the project has a strong focus on environmental protection, sustainability and minimising disruption. 

“I'm a big ambassador of electric,” says Marcel. “There's no need to be anxious about range.” At the beginning, Millenaar & van Schaik found it didn’t have enough places to charge its trucks. “On one project, there wasn’t enough power to fully charge our trucks overnight, which meant we had productivity loss,” he explains.

So, Millenaar & van Schaik also invested in 2 charging stations of their own, one on their home base near Schiphol and one semi-permanent near a project in the east of the Netherlands.

Their client invested in the creation of Watthub, the world’s largest fast-charging plaza for trucks and heavy construction equipment. Situated on the A15 highway in the Netherlands, which connects Rotterdam and Germany, truck users can book a guaranteed charging slot with the ability to charge at speeds up to 350 kW. The electricity is 100% sustainably produced through wind and solar energy. Now his trucks have a dedicated place to charge, whether that’s nipping in for a quick top up, or charging fully overnight.

Once charged overnight, the silent electric trucks are hauling heavy loads for 10 to 12 hours over short distances without requiring another recharge. However, if they do need a top up, that can be scheduled to coincide with the driver’s lunch break or at the end of the shift. A short “plug and play” as Marcel describes it. Then they’re back on their way again.

“Each year, there are more and more projects that require zero emissions electric trucks,” explains Marcel. “So we are in demand, the order book is filled with enough opportunities, and we don't have any anxiety about our investments.”   

In fact, Marcel says the demand from his customers for electric trucks is currently outpacing their supply. His advice to other companies deliberating over the switch to electric is emphatic: now is the time. “Make sure you're at the front of zero emissions and not in the second wave because you could miss out on business opportunities,” he adds. “Everything we know about transportation will be redesigned because of electrification”.

Marcel believes getting ahead of the race to go electric puts his company at a competitive advantage and Millenaar & van Schaik has bold plans to accelerate the electrification of its fleet. “We are committed to the goal set by the European Union and our customers – reducing our carbon footprint. By 2028, our total cost of ownership will be better for electric trucks than diesel.”