News

McDonald's Stockholm supply chain delivery project makes for a 'silent night'

February 15, 2019

A pilot study to test silent overnight deliveries has been launched at six McDonald's restaurants in Stockholm, Sweden using a hybrid truck from Scania, according to a news release. 

In Stockholm, heavy vehicles are normally restricted from nighttime driving due to noise, which means businesses, including QSRs, must receive supplies during morning rush hour when trucks can easily become snarled in traffic or cause long line. That's why the Swedish city has expanded its study of overnight deliveries.

It includes deliveries made by silent electric-powered vehicles as part of a partnership between the city, McDonald's, Scania, the supply chain management company, HAVI, and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, as part of the EU project, "Eccentric Stockholm." Trucks are chargeable and run on a combination of electricity and HVO, a fossil-free fuel that dramatically cuts carbon dioxide emissions.

The plug-in hybrid truck is also connected and fitted with geofencing technology, allowing it to adapt to an area's predetermined driving conditions by changing motors and speeds to cut pollution and noise. 

"HAVI is a global logistics provider to McDonald's worldwide, and in Sweden the two businesses have been working together since 1989," HAVI Quality, Safety and Environmental Manager Camilla Eklof said in the release. "We are very proud to be part of leading efforts to tackle real issues facing people living in the city. 

"These trucks drive quietly and are emission-free in these sensitive urban areas. At the same time, however, they are still capable of driving longer distances. Our global partnership with Scania and McDonald's is really making a difference to the environment as we work together to minimize emissions."

The hybrid truck can drive in silent electric mode for up to about 6.25 miles to deliver goods on what the release said are Stockholm's "practically empty" nighttime streets. The partners will study how much environmental benefit the area realizes through the project. 

"This kind of innovative partnerships and frontrunner projects are just right for us on journey towards a more sustainable supply chain," McDonald's Sweden Environmental Manager Henrik Nerell said in the release. "We were early out in Sweden implementing charging stations for cars and this is an exciting next step."

The battery is charged via external power and regeneration, which converts brake applications into electricity. A charging station near one location will allow trucks to rejoice during loading, unloading, and driver breaks. Longer trips to and from the warehouse use internal combustion and emission-cutting HVO with an automatic changeover of motors through the software tool, Scania Zone and virtual fences or geofences in environmentally sensitive urban areas.

"The pilot is based on a(n) ... innovation procurement process which Scania won, and it suits us since we already have a comprehensive collaboration for fuel optimizing solutions with HAVI in other parts of Europe," Scania Urban Trucks Product Manager Jesper Brauer said in the release. "This project is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate and evaluate the possibilities that a connected hybrid truck can offer, with the technology available to us here and now, to enable us to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels."