MAN electrifies vehicle delivery

MAN Truck & Bus is consistently driving forward the decarbonisation of its new vehicle delivery logistics. Together with its long-standing logistics partner VEGA International, the company is relying on an innovative intermodal concept consisting of rail transport for the main leg of the journey and fully electric on-road transport for the “last mile” of vehicle delivery. This concept enables savings of around 2,700 tonnes of CO₂ per year. Following a successful practical test phase with two MAN eTGX trucks, VEGA plans to gradually expand the fully electric transport concept. By the end of 2026, 30 to 40 additional MAN eTGX trucks are to be put into service. 

“VEGA has been a strong and innovative partner for our outbound logistics for many years. Together, we are working consistently on solutions to further reduce the carbon footprint of our products. The combination of electric trucks with other zero-emission means of transport shows how climate-friendly supply chains can be intelligently implemented,” says Michael Kobriger, Executive Board Member for Production and Logistics at MAN Truck & Bus. 

“With the two eTGX trucks, we are gaining valuable experience in demanding real-world operations, which involve different routes and unloading locations every day. The battery range and operational suitability of the vehicles have proven to be excellent. We are using these findings to electrify further transport routes together with our partners,” says Franz Blum, CEO of VEGA.

Every week, MAN eTGX trucks deliver around 30 to 40 brand-new trucks from the VEGA rail terminal in Rheine near Osnabrück within a radius of 300 km using fully electric power and thus with zero local emissions. The new vehicles are transported there from the MAN production plant in Krakow, Poland, and thus the majority of the transport route is also covered electrically by rail. Rail transport to north-west Germany is part of the LionXpress service. The transport concept is based on two train routes to Germany and Austria, which MAN is gradually expanding with its logistics partners. This is already enabling MAN to achieve significant CO₂ savings. Since the project started in June 2023, VEGA has transported over 11,000 trucks by train in a more climate-friendly way, saving 6,000 tonnes of CO₂. In total, the two LionXpress train concepts have saved around 10,400 tonnes of CO₂ in the transport of over 22,000 trucks. VEGA's patented loading concept also enables trucks with a height of up to 4.2 metres to be loaded onto trains. The use of electric trucks to deliver new vehicles electrifies the entire logistics chain from the production plant to the end customer.

The “Electrifying Outbound” initiative is part of MAN's long-term sustainability strategy. By 2030, CO₂ emissions in the vehicle delivery process are to be reduced by 30 per cent. In addition to electrifying the last mile and expanding the rail network, the integration of other areas such as spare parts logistics is also planned.

The very positive experience with the MAN eTGX, which has a unique selling point among electric trucks with a fifth-wheel height of 950 mm, has prompted VEGA to put another ten eTGX trucks into operation in 2025 and to plan the expansion of its electric truck fleet by a further 20 to 30 eTGX trucks in 2026.

In future, the new MAN eTrucks will be used not only for MAN's outbound logistics, but also for the pre-transport of new trailers from VEGA customers KRONE and SCHMITZ to VEGA's own rail terminal in Rheine. Additional concepts for CO₂-free logistics are also being developed within the TRATON Group.

VEGA's ambitious goal is to make the entire outbound logistics chain for the commercial vehicle industry CO₂-free by 2030. This is based on the ideal combination of rail transport using innovative “r2L connectors” – a special rail loading system for trucks and semi-trailers – and electric and hydrogen trucks for the last mile. To this end, VEGA is investing over €30 million in its own charging and solar park network at its 10 existing branches across Europe in order to be largely independent of public charging infrastructure, and will invest a further €80 to 100 million to convert its existing fleet from fossil fuels to BEV and hydrogen vehicles. 

In addition, VEGA has already acquired a stake in a company in Germany that specialises in the production of green hydrogen in order to be at the forefront of this future technology.

The combination of different CO₂-free solutions makes VEGA a highly innovative and forward-looking partner to the commercial vehicle industry. 

VEGA is a logistics service provider for the commercial vehicle industry with headquarters in Salzburg, Austria, and 10 branches in Europe and Asia, with group sales of €200 million and over 1,000 employees.