Pilots for insights into sustainable transport

Perhaps you have spotted a fully electric Action truck on the road. Since the beginning of 2023, we have operated two fully electric trucks for daily deliveries to our stores. The trucks depart from our distribution centre in Echt in the Netherlands. In March 2023 a third and a fourth E-truck were added operating out of the Action-DC in Biblis, Germany. All four trucks are part of a pilot for implementing electrical transport in our logistic process.

Erwin den Exter, supply chain development manager at Action: "We consider electrical transport one of the zero emission solutions for the near future. But to reach zero emission transport, a simple switch from Diesel to E-trucks is not enough. Because electrical transport, including the charging process, will impact our way of working, it is important to gain experience at an early stage. Our drivers are key in this process and based on the learnings, we aim for proper journey towards zero emission”.

Own energy, charging- and fuel stations 

To charge the trucks, we built a fast-charging station at the DC. Green electricity is used. The energy that is used for charging the trucks is partly self-generated by the solar panels on the roof of our DC.


Besides electric trucks, we are also running a pilot programme with biodiesel HVO100. Our aim is to deploy biofuels at a larger scale, to reduce CO2 emissions on a shorter term on a significant scale. We consider biofuels a transitional fuel, to be phased out once zero emissions solutions like E-trucks or Hydrogen become more mature.


Erwin den Exter: “As a leading discount retailer, sustainable transport is very important to reduce our CO2 footprint. Our pilot with electric trucks and biodiesel marks a major milestone, despite the fact that we are still at the beginning of this journey. “

Own energy, charging- and fuel stations 

To charge the trucks, we built a fast-charging station at the DC. Green electricity is used. The energy that is used for charging the trucks is partly self-generated by the solar panels on the roof of our DC.


Besides electric trucks, we are also running a pilot programme with biodiesel HVO100. Our aim is to deploy biofuels at a larger scale, to reduce CO2 emissions on a shorter term on a significant scale. We consider biofuels a transitional fuel, to be phased out once zero emissions solutions like E-trucks or Hydrogen become more mature.


Erwin den Exter: “As a leading discount retailer, sustainable transport is very important to reduce our CO2 footprint. Our pilot with electric trucks and biodiesel marks a major milestone, despite the fact that we are still at the beginning of this journey. “

Erwin den Exter, supply chain development manager at Action: "We consider electrical transport one of the zero emission solutions for the near future. But to reach zero emission transport, a simple switch from Diesel to E-trucks is not enough. Because electrical transport, including the charging process, will impact our way of working, it is important to gain experience at an early stage. Our drivers are key in this process and based on the learnings, we aim for proper journey towards zero emission”.

Perhaps you have spotted a fully electric Action truck on the road. Since the beginning of 2023, we have operated two fully electric trucks for daily deliveries to our stores. The trucks depart from our distribution centre in Echt in the Netherlands. In March 2023 a third and a fourth E-truck were added operating out of the Action-DC in Biblis, Germany. All four trucks are part of a pilot for implementing electrical transport in our logistic process.

Pilots for insights into sustainable transport