Train, bike… Can the MIN of Rouen get out of the all-truck to pollute less?
By Valentin Lebosse
Published on
458,000. This figure had made the deputy mayor of Canteleu in charge of the environment, during the city council of September 26, 2022. This is the total number of vehicles that pass through the market of national interest (MIN) in Rouen (Seine-Maritime) each year whose influence extends over the two municipalities.
“To this must be added the road traffic linked to port activities and local transit, we are on the edge of the saturation “, had launched Gerard Levillain while the 2021 activity report of the logistics platform was revealed, where 125,000 tonnes of agri-food products (fruits and vegetables, meat, seafood, flowers, etc.) flow in and out per year.
The debates then deviated on thecarbon footprint from MIN. In other words, the quantity of greenhouse gases, responsible for global warming, generated by this infrastructure. With this question: how to reduce it?
What carbon footprint?
Still need to know how much CO2 rejects this noria of vehicles. Asked about this, the MIN was not able to answer us. Because this data is not “centralized” – “it would be necessary to request information from each carrier”, we are told.
The establishment nevertheless ensures that it takes its part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. First, by the very nature of its activity.
The MIN of Rouen supplies the whole of the former Haute-Normandie region, ie a pool of 2 million consumers, a good part of whom live in the Rouen conurbation. Approaching[ant] Norman production of distribution”, its presence avoids a myriad of truck journeys between producers, wholesalers and retailers.
“Share” deliveries
According to Abdelkrim Marchani, CEO of the mixed economy company of the MIN of Rouen, 85% of the flows are between the platform and the traders. “The question is: how can the logistics of this broadcast be improved to prevent too many delivery vehicles from pouring into town? “, frames the vice-president of the Rouen Normandy Metropolis in charge, in particular, of the economy and attractiveness.
For the CEO of the MIN, the solution goes through the “pooling” of deliveries. To supply the shops in the hypercentre of Rouen, the establishment works with two companies: Free and Envelo.
The first was set up at the MIN in 2018. Specialized in the transport of foodstuffs in the city center, Free has a fleet of around ten light vehicles (less than 3.5 tonnes) and around twenty drivers in the Normandy capital. Bakeries, restaurants, supermarkets and supermarkets… On each round, an Oofrais delivery person can serve “15 to 30 delivery points” depending on Valentin Baudouin, responsible for operational and commercial operations in Normandy.
Faced with the proliferation of ZFE (low emission zones – mobility), the company must adapt. “It will quickly become complicated to circulate freely so we test different types of vehicles,” says Valentin Baudouin. For example, in Caen, on one of the gas-powered utilities [GPL, gaz de pétrole liquéfié, NDLR]. »
Bikes instead of vans?
What if bicycles replaced delivery vans? It’s the idea of Toutenvélo arrival on the MIN in June 2022. “We are coming for experimentation”, specifies Arthur Desmidt, co-manager of this cooperative which offers, among other things, removals on non-motorized two-wheelers.
It takes between 7 and 12 minutes to reach the city center, depending on the weight of the delivery. In terms of volume, we can go up to 300 kg, which will allow us to deliver around fifteen points in two or three hours.
Toutenvélo already provides deliveries for Pumpkin, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler. “On tracks with other wholesalers,” says Arthur Desmidt. To diversify its customers, the cooperative has equipped itself with a special trailer for transporting fresh goods.
However, the pooling of deliveries cannot develop without upsetting certain habits. ” Some retailers still prefer to come to the MIN to source and deal directly with wholesalers,” admits its CEO. To try to convince them, Abdelkrim Marchani is counting on “a strong argument: the time that traders do not use to go to the MIN, they can put it to use for their trade”. Not to mention the cost what is the possession of an adequate vehicle.
As for the impact of this solution on the site’s carbon footprint, its director Laurent Artigou concedes that “the supply of shops in the hypercentre of Rouen represents a small part of the tonnage which passes through the MIN”. In particular, there remains the question incoming flows. These heavyweights that transport the food from the producers to the logistics platform.
The train, an alternative to heavy goods vehicles?
“With other elected officials from the Métropole, we had asked ourselves the question of looking at the possibility of using the proximity of the Seine or the railway line of the factory Vallourec [qui a fermé ses portes à Déville-lès-Rouen, NDLR] », rewinds Melanie Baker, Mayor of Canteleu. The city councilor had sent a letter to this effect to the management of the MIN, before the Covid-19 health crisis.
But these alternatives seem difficult to consider as they stand. It is certainly tempting to take the example of the train of greengrocers », relaunched in 2021 Between Perpignan (Pyrenees-Orientales) and Rungis (Val de Marne) where the largest fresh produce market in the world is located. But as pointed out France Blue Roussillon, there are “seven times fewer” fruit and vegetable wagons than in the 1990s. And the future of the line is not not insured beyond 2025.
” There’s no nothing worse than an underutilized infrastructure, loose Abdelkrim Marchani who also works at SNCF Réseau. For rail to be economically viable, you need high turnover. Or, in Rouen, it doesn’t sell like at Rungis! It would be necessary to pool with other customers. »
The CEO of the MIN has another reservation: “Our food is 80% from local producers, with a diffuse localization in Seine-Maritime and the rest of Normandy. To transport these goods in large volumes by rail, it would be necessary to reach a critical mass, to group local production on an external platform. Which doubled with the MIN.
Trucks still seem to have a bright future ahead of them. Abdelkrim Marchani is still counting on the new EPZ rules and the development of new technologies such as electric or hydrogen engines for cleaner road transport.
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