Implementation Strategies for Sustainable Vehicle Fleet Management

Research purpose. Against the backdrop of climate change, pressure is growing in the transport sector to reduce CO2 emissions. Numerous companies are therefore setting specific targets to curb the CO2 emissions of their own vehicle fleets. As a rule, this requires the replacement of combustion vehicles by vehicles with alternative drives. In addition to the selection of suitable technologies, economic aspects play a prominent role in this transformation process. Based on a practical case study, potential implementation strategies for achieving a specific CO2 target are to be examined for a parcel service provider. The focus here is on a fleet of diesel combustion vehicles from the small van class with a permissible total weight of fewer than 3.5 tons, which are to be replaced by vehicles with electric drive (BEV) in order to achieve a specific CO2-savings target. The research objective can be easily extended if one considers, on the one hand, that climate protection cannot be limited to individual countries but has to take place on a global level and, on the other hand, that sustainable strategic planning of vehicle fleets also concerns other vehicle segments, such as company cars for individual transport or trucks with higher permissible gross weights.