Ding, ding! Move over cargo trucks, a new bike is in town and prepared to sustainably deliver goods.
Zero Logistics has teamed up with Sea to Sky Courier to deliver goods by e-bike in the downtown and Industrial Park areas of Squamish.
“By 2030, freight transport is expected to surpass passenger vehicle emissions,” said Luke Friesen, co-founder of Zero Logistics. “A great way to be able to contribute to a more sustainable environment is really to change how people receive their goods in a different way.”
Friesen said he and the other co-founder, David Lee, both saw how mainstream bike deliveries were in Europe while they attended business school. Because of that, Friesen said they thought it would be great to have it in North America as well.
“We wanted to be some of the first ones to really prove that out here and show that we can indeed deliver by bike on a daily basis in North American cities,” he said.
Currently, Friesen said they have one electric cargo bike and it can hold up to 220 pounds and is about 900 litres in volume. Even with just the one bike, the delivery cyclists have been able to complete between 20 to 40 deliveries every day.
With some success already in hand, Friesen said the company plans to expand with more bikes, new areas and hopefully teaming up with more local businesses.
“We're hoping to bring on a second bike a little bit later this year and hopefully continue plans to expand into the rest of Metro Vancouver starting in spring,” he said.
There are also early plans to create a small hub for package drop-offs in Squamish.
“We'll have this micro hub where people can drop off packages and we can sort of do that final mile delivery,” he said. “This is really what is taking off with cycling logistics across Europe and now seeing it in North America as well.”
As for right now, Friesen said they are continuing to get the business acquainted in the community.
“We've been connecting with a lot of local businesses over the last few weeks. And that's just been really exciting to see sort of the acceptance of us within the community and people are starting to spot our bike.”
For more information about Zero Logistics, visit their website at ZeroLogistics.ca.
