Fraunhofer IML: Low-noise logistics with alternative drives offers great potential

Nighttime quiet is a highly valued and legally protected asset. A large portion of the population feels disturbed and harassed by traffic noise. As part of the mobility study "Low-Noise Logistics," which was funded by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia with 506,700 euros, researchers at Fraunhofer IML examined commercial vehicles with alternative drives (battery-electric, gas, hydrogen) for their sound emissions during delivery processes at commercial locations and developed recommendations for the use of the new data and the implementation of low-noise logistics.

At the end of September 2024, the institute handed over the handbook "Low-Noise Logistics" it had created to the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The work outlines a possible shift of transports to early morning and night times to alleviate daytime traffic. It also provides reliable data for a shift to less congested times of the day through the use of alternative drives.

"My goal is to establish a mobility policy in which the environment and traffic act as joint drivers for the urgently needed nature and climate protection, for more sustainability, and a higher quality of life," explained Oliver Krischer, Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, at the handover.

According to Fraunhofer IML, the manual fills a knowledge gap and provides concrete values for emission approaches, enabling the assessment of low-noise delivery situations. A central result of the mobility study is the newly collected noise emission values for alternatively powered commercial vehicles, which were not the focus in previous standard works. These demonstrate that these commercial vehicles are significantly quieter. The mobility study thus provides a basis for evaluating concrete low-noise logistics projects in terms of noise control protection.

Prof. Uwe Clausen, Head of the Institute at Fraunhofer IML: "Shifting transports to early-morning and nighttime periods offers logistical advantages and relieves urban traffic during the day. By doing so, we create incentives to increasingly use commercial vehicles with battery-electric or hydrogen drives to make urban freight transport quieter."