For a better future

One of our primary objectives is to modernise our entire fleet to make fuel consumption more efficient and to thereby reduce CO2 emissions. The number of GLS environmentally sustainable vehicles already on the roads is constantly increasing; GLS is also testing some that use alternative fuel (especially in certain city centres in Germany, Italy and Poland). Modernising the fleet is crucially important, but no less so than educating drivers. This is why we have decided to invest in specific training for them, to ensure that correct driving practices help save fuel. Besides our commercial vehicles, we are also proceeding to replace our fleet of company cars with low emission vehicles.

Using modern IT planning tools to improve operational and transport processes is a normal organisational procedure for GLS. Optimising routes means we can keep the distances our vehicles travel to a minimum. GLS consolidates some shipments at the central hub in Neuenstein and the regional sorting centres, using operations facilities that have a high sorting turnover, supported by the use of jumbo multi-volume containers with bulk loads.

Every new GLS site is built in compliance with environmentally friendly standards. The first "green site" was built in 2009 near Stuttgart in Germany, and is now the prototype for all our new sites. It is now routine to include construction features such as rainwater collection systems, photovoltaic systems, the use of recyclable construction materials and heat pumps. Work is already under way to build five "green sites" in France and Germany. A sixth is in the construction stage in northern Germany, and others will follow. Existing facilities are already being modernised, replacing obsolete technology with more eco-sustainable alternatives.

Many other strategies are applied across the board to reduce our ecological footprint. Documents that would previously have been paper documents, such as invoices, drivers' notes, and proof of delivery, are all gradually being converted into electronic documents across the whole of Europe. In many GLS countries customers can already choose to be sent digital invoices. Furthermore, to reduce the need for continual business trips, videoconferencing is used in more than 80 sites.