6. October 2022 | Responsibility
Our Green CityHub in Basel Wolf
Beri & Jasmine on tour. This time, we are visiting the Smart City Lab Basel on the Wolf site and our recently opened Green CityHub. As such, we are the parcel service provider in the Basel region that relies entirely on electric vehicles and reduces emissions right down to the last mile. The location on the Wolf is ideal and we have taken a closer look at that.
The Green CityHub functions as a part of our HUB in Möhlin. We spoke to the HUB manager in Möhlin, Iginio Zanatta. Perhaps you remember him – we introduced Iginio – our archer a year ago. But a lot has changed since the video shoot in Möhlin, such as the construction and commissioning of the new microhub in Basel-City.
We found out that Iginio is not only an excellent archer, but also has great taste in music.
Who remembers Frank Sinatra's song 'Fly me to the moon' ?
As always, when Beri and Jasmine are on tour, we have put together a personal summary for you today:
It was very exciting to discover the rather different environment. Usually we see large sorting systems, dozens of vans and swap bodies, as well as employees in the depots and hubs. Our depots are mostly or partly remote and on the edge of industrial zones. But things are completely different in the Green CityHub: the CityHub is very centrally located; the staff are among themselves, taking the parcels out of the wagons, sorting them, loading them, and setting off on their delivery tours. There are two waves: the first goes at around 08:30/08:45 a.m., the second at around 10:30 a.m., or earlier if they’re ready.
We accompanied Jordan and the boys, and wanted to help them – without causing too much chaos – but we couldn’t really contribute much. The drivers are all permanently employed at DPD Switzerland and have a good team spirit. What if someone finishes early? There’s no question; then each man* helps the other.
* literally ‘man’ because there are ten guys who deliver the parcels every day from the Green CityHub in Basel-Stadt.
Because we weren’t able to help, we concentrated this time on the processes and organisation and let Iginio explain a few key facts about the Green CityHub:
Jasmine: ‘How long has the depot been in operation?’
Iginio: ‘The first of February of this year was planned. But we all know how construction projects work. 😊 In the end, we delivered for around seven weeks from Möhlin before we officially started in Basel-Stadt on 14 March.’
Beri: ‘What’s so special about the Green CityHub?’
Iginio: ‘We deliver all parcels electrically. We work with the satellite system, which means that these are not completely independent depots. Presorting and sorting in general are handled by Möhlin as well as the entire returns process. We are also particularly proud to have been able to hire ten drivers of our own in the Green CityHub. We have achieved very good delivery rates over the past few weeks and months and are excited to see when we will be able to expand the Green CityHub.’
Jasmine: ‘What about the daily volumes? Can you tell us more about that?
’Iginio: ‘We currently deliver around 1,200 to 1,300 parcels a day on a total of eight tour routes.’
Beri: ‘How many drivers do the so-called “last mile”?
’Iginio: ‘We employ ten drivers. Of these, two are backup drivers, who put together their own backup route depending on the volume of the eight regular tour routes.’
Jasmine: ‘What is your biggest challenge as an HUB manager?’
Iginio: ‘It’s difficult because I’m not always on-site, but mostly at the other HUB in Möhlin. But it has worked very well so far, as I’m in close contact with Jordan, who is on-site at the Green CityHub every day.’
Beri: ‘And a supplementary question about “Green”. Where does the electricity for the electric vans come from?’
Iginio: ‘Our CityHub is 100% green and that is why we get the electricity from a solar plant.’
And of course, in the meantime, the boys have finished sorting and loading the parcels. We can accompany Jordan, who is on a backup tour in the Basel areas 4054 and 4055, and are already curious about what it will be like to ride in an electric van. A lot goes smoothly on our delivery round, but not everything: we met a few recipients in person; some were unfortunately not at home and we left parcel information slips in their letter boxes. Other parcels in turn did not have the correct address on the label, which means returning the parcel to the sender after the address check has been completed at the Möhlin HUB.
It was exciting to get a glimpse into Jordan’s everyday life, and Jasmine, who originally comes from Basel, discovered some pretty neighbourhoods. Will she soon be heading back to north-western Switzerland?
We’ll see. 😊
As you know, when the girls from Marketing are out and about, there’s always a short video. Here we go:
We would like to thank Iginio for the exciting insights. See you in the next episode of ‘Beri & Jasmine on tour’!
Greetings,
Beri & Jasmine
