DSV refurbishes 1,100 trailers, launching trailer refurbishment programme

Refurbishing rather than replacing its trailers, DSV introduces an initiative to reduce its environmental footprint. In 2023, the leading transport and logistics company will double the life of 1,100 trailers, kicking off new trailer refurbishment programme.

Every year, the leading transport and logistics company DSV transports millions of tonnes of its customers’ goods across the roads of Europe in thousands of trailers. In 2023, in its own workshops and in collaboration with equipment service provider TIP Group, DSV will refurbish 1,100 trailers that it will continue to use on its European lanes rather than replacing them with new ones.

Doubling the life of the trailer

Sometimes, innovation and technology are at the centre of DSV’s initiatives aimed at reducing emissions. Refurbishing trailers rather than replacing them is an example of an initiative with a more pragmatic approach:

“DSV has high ambitions for operating more sustainably. Realising those ambitions often involves high-level innovation and new technologies. But sometimes, we can achieve great value with solutions that are more straightforward. Refurbishing rather than replacing our trailers will enable us to save carbon while delivering services of a continued high quality to our customers,” says Søren Schmidt, CEO, DSV Road.

Typically, DSV uses a trailer for approximately five years before it returns it to the leasing company or manufacturer and instead leases a new trailer. Refurbishing a trailer after the first five years, DSV expects to add another full lifecycle of five years of use to the trailer.

Significant emissions reductions

Based on required input resources and applying recognised emission conversion factors, TIP Group has calculated an 18.6 tonnes carbon footprint of a newly produced curtainsider. Refurbishing a trailer entails significantly lower emissions. The refurbishment of DSV’s 1,100 trailers includes replacement of those parts of the trailers that are most subject to wear and tear, such as the brake discs, brake pads, airbags and side and roof curtains. Based on TIP Group’s calculations, refurbishment of a used curtainsider emits an estimated 2.7 tonnes of CO₂. This includes both materials, energy and heating used for the refurbishment. The difference in emissions between a new and a refurbished trailer shows emissions savings of an estimated 16 tonnes per trailer and approximately 18,000 tonnes for the total 1,100 trailers, which will be refurbished in 2023.

Introducing circular economy initiatives, such as refurbishing rather than replacing, can be an effective tool for achieving emissions reductions:

“Refurbishing our trailers is a great example of how circular economy initiatives can bring us closer to realising our sustainability ambitions. With limited resources available globally, we must think smarter and more responsibly when it comes to the consumption of those resources,” says Søren Schmidt.

Introducing new refurbishment programme

The refurbishment of the 1,100 trailers in 2023 kicks off DSV’s new trailer refurbishment programme through which all DSV-owned trailers in its European network will undergo refurbishment at least once before the company returns the trailers to the manufacturer.

Søren Schmidt is excited to expand the initiative:

“Discovering the emissions reductions we can achieve through refurbishment, we have decided to establish a trailer refurbishment programme. Practical circular economy initiatives such as this programme will be pivotal in reducing DSV’s overall carbon footprint,” he says.

DSV will put the first refurbished trailers on the road at the end of January 2023 and will finish refurbishing the last of the initial 1,100 trailers before the end of December 2023.