Sustainable logistics provider Delivery Mates has partnered with the world’s largest on-demand laundry service company to accelerate the electrification of its fleet and rapidly improve vehicle uptime.
Established in 2014, Laundryheap operates in 11 countries offering a pick up and drop off service, all within 24 hours.
“Everything to do with on-demand laundry can be done on cargo bikes,” Kevin Savage, COO of Delivery Mates, told Zag Daily.
“But running a cargo fleet takes some speciality, particularly in the after sales, keeping vehicles on the road. That’s why they have come to Delivery Mates as we’ve got expertise both in logistics and vehicle up time.”
Laundryheap has proven that replacing a delivery van with two cargo bikes can reduce CO2 emissions by 34 tonnes per annum, so there is not only a commercial efficiency benefit but also a significant environmental saving.
Delivery Mates will provide a comprehensive range of services to Laundryheap, including maintenance, servicing and repairs, fleet management, telematics storage and insurance.
This will free up time for Laundryheap to focus on its core operations.
Electric expansion
Laundryheap already had a fleet of EAV e-cargo bikes and so Delivery Mates will take over the management of these vehicles, and increase the firm’s fleet size with its own vehicles.
Anticipated repair times for these cargo bikes will shrink from two weeks to just 24 hours.
“We’ve got over 25 bikes on the road in the UK and plan to have 40 bikes operational by the end of the year,” Jon Mahood, Finance Director of Laundryheap, told Zag. “However, this is just the first wave and our targets are much more ambitious.
“We know zero-emission delivery is really important to our customers, so we’re excited to do more to support Laundryheap’s electric fleet.”
This collaboration also opens up opportunities for Laundryheap to enter smaller markets across the UK using cargo bikes. After identifying facility partners, the company will be able to rapidly set up operations in new local markets by utilising Delivery Mates existing cargo bike hubs to fulfil deliveries.
