Alternative drives for the logistics industry: Statement by Martin Stillger, CEO of thyssenkrupp Materials Services

Logistics spending in the U.S. has grown rapidly in recent years. More than 72 percent of the country's freight is transported by road each year, with trucks traveling more than 300 billion miles annually. However, road transport generates a large number of emissions that need to be reduced drastically. Martin Stillger, CEO of thyssenkrupp Materials Services, evaluates alternative drives and their relevance for the logistics industry:

"As one of the world’s leading mill-independent materials distribution and service providers, we are aware of our great responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have set ourselves the ambitious goal of operating on a climate-neutral basis by 2030. Part of this involves switching to alternative drives to get our products from A to B in a more climate-friendly way. Thanks to technological progress in recent years, the first alternatives to fossil fuels are ready for use today – and will be scalable in the future.

At thyssenkrupp Materials Services, we are intensively examining the feasibility of possible alternatives for more sustainable road freight logistics in both North America and Europe. Let me give you four examples:             

In California a large proportion of our truck fleet already runs on renewable diesel R99. The engines do not need to be specially converted, but the CO₂ savings are still enormous. In addition, our North American subsidiary, Copper and Brass Sales, is currently testing the use of RNG trucks that run on renewable natural gas. In Germany, the first hydrogen-powered trucks have been operating for us since this year. Our British subsidiary, thyssenkrupp Materials UK, uses trucks that run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). Compared to conventional diesel, this reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95 percent.      

As you can see: There are many options. Since it is not yet possible to predict which technologies and solutions will ultimately prevail, we are not restricting ourselves to one approach, but are focusing on diversification in the pilot phases, with the aim of expanding the proven options at a later stage."

The sustainability strategy of thyssenkrupp Materials Services is called "BEYOND" and is based on the internationally recognized ESG standards – but goes beyond these requirements. In addition to reducing its own CO₂ emissions, the focus is on developing sustainable products and services for customers that enable them to demonstrably reduce their carbon footprint and increase efficiency.