The fresh bread business in Finland saves nearly 400,000 kilometres annually with HCT trucks

Some sustainability projects require engineering skills, process of change and a whole new mindset before you can reap the benefits. Others are more straightforward.

In Finland, new legislation has paved way for High Capacity Transportation (HCT) trucks. Before January 2019 the maximum length for trucks in Finland was 25.25 meters, but now the maximum length is 34.5 meters. Converted into cargo space it means an increase from 52.5m² to 67.5m².   

Two trucks save 200,000 km

Hannu Nylander is the Logistics & Service Level Director in Vaasan. He has been very active in both political and industry discussions about HCT trucks in Finland. The large trucks represent a huge business potential, and they reduce the carbon footprint from transportation.

“We have replaced four regular trucks with two HCT trucks on our north- and southbound routes. The two HCT trucks will save us 200,000 kilometres annually,” he says.

Fresh bread doesn’t weigh much. So, it’s not a concern how many kilos a truck can carry on a truckload. The challenge is cargo space. One HCT truck can carry 52 FIN pallets (a larger pallet standard common in Finland) compared to a regular truck that carries only 40 FIN pallets.

More HCT trucks in the future

In November 2019, Vaasan will put two additional HCT trucks into service. One HCT truck will replace two regular trucks driving in the south-western parts of Finland with annual savings of 55,000 kilometres. The other HCT truck will replace two regular trucks driving in the south-eastern parts of Finland with annual savings of 140,000 kilometres.

“Combined with optimized routing HCT trucks allow us to carry more freight for less fuel. That results in a significant reduction in CO2 emissions per kilometre from transportation in Vaasan,” Hannu Nylander sums up.

At the moment Sweden is also doing tests with HCT trucks.