Heavy transport, lighter footprint

A modern forklift consists of thousands of parts – from sensors, cables, and seals to hoses, screws, and control units. The largest and heaviest single component is a solid cast-steel block: the counterweight. It ensures that the forklift does not tip forward when lifting a load.

The counterweights for the Linde forklifts assembled at the Aschaffenburg plant are made from recycled steel scrap at Linde MH’s own foundry in Weilbach, in the Bavarian Odenwald region. The two sites are 35 kilometers apart; the heavy components are transported by road from Weilbach to Aschaffenburg.

Fully electric semi-trucks

A few months ago, this transport operation was reorganized: instead of diesel semi-trucks, two fully electric 42-ton semi-trucks now run the route. Ten electric vans were also purchased for other transport runs in the Aschaffenburg region, for example to supply the canteen.

The new 42-ton tractor units, with a battery capacity of 600 kWh and a range of 500 kilometers, as well as ten additional light commercial vehicles of up to 3.5 tons and the charging infrastructure, were funded under the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport’s KsNI directive for the promotion of light and heavy commercial vehicles with alternative, climate-friendly drivetrains. Part of this funding comes from the EU’s German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP).

“With this fleet, we aim to save around 180 metric tons of CO₂ every year in the future,” says Franz Huber, Project Manager Strategic Product Platforms and Energy Solutions at Linde Material Handling. The counterweights are transported in two-shift operation: the first electric truck the first electric sets off as early as 3 a.m. to deliver the counterweights just-in-time to the assembly hall.

Just-in-time

“We leave nothing to chance,” Huber explains. To make sure everything runs reliably and on time, the drivers are employed directly by Linde MH – and, incidentally, they do not only drive the electric semi-trucks, but also handle the loading and unloading of the counterweights. “No external service provider could meet the level of reliability this process requires,” Huber says.

The new electric fleet and several charging stations were funded through the Federal Ministry of Transport’s KsNI directive; part of the funding comes from the EU-financed DARP. For Franz Huber, however, the main point is clear: “This project is another major step toward electrifying our supply chain.”

Mister Electric

For Huber, who has already driven forward various electrification measures at Linde MH, registered several patents, and helped build up the eMotion business unit, the new fleet is more than an individual decarbonization project. In his view, the example shows how transport logistics and internal logistics could be more closely connected in the future. He sees a “natural symbiosis” between forklifts and semi-trucks, with major business potential.

What does he mean by that? “Wherever a semi-truck arrives, a forklift is usually already waiting to unload it, or is called just-in-time,” Huber says. In this direct interaction, usually only one of the two vehicles is active at any given moment: “When the semi-truck is standing still, the forklift is working. When the semi-truck is driving, the forklift is standing still.”

That, he says, is exactly where the appeal of electrification lies: “The major leverage comes when we stop looking at semi-trucks and forklifts separately and instead see them as one shared energy system. Then charging infrastructure can be used more efficiently, energy demand can be managed more intelligently, and the entire logistics process can be organized more effectively.”

See? It can be done

For now, this idea is still something for the future. At the Aschaffenburg forklift plant, there are charging stations for both electric semi-trucks and electric forklifts. But those are not yet compatible with each other. “There is still a long way to go,” Huber admits. At least one interim step could come soon: in the future, the charging points for the electric semi-trucks are also intended to be available to suppliers who come to Aschaffenburg with electric vehicles.

Franz Huber knows that many innovations require long-term thinking – and that patience and the ability to innovate pay off. “When I started at Linde MH in 2002, nobody could imagine that electric forklifts would one day be just as powerful, robust, and ergonomic as forklifts with combustion engines,” he says. That was achieved in 2021 with the introduction of the Linde X20 – X35 series , convincing even the skeptics. For Huber, the lesson is simple: “See? It can be done.”