In 2023, the hub’s transport pooling project took a decisive turn with the purchase of a brand-new refrigerated truck adorned with L’Aube’s logo. We continued our logistics and transportation optimization activities with our partner farms to provide fruits and vegetables to Montreal’s institutions and community organizations. Here is a quick overview of our shared truck.
What the truck sharing project entails
Sharing deliveries leads to a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by optimizing three elements that interact:
- using the truck at its full capacity;
- optimizing delivery routes;
- and, of course, vehicle sharing itself.
Together, these elements enable concrete GHG reductions by reducing the distances travelled and the total number of trips to and from the farms.
Refrigeration also helps to reduce food losses due to non-compliance with the cold chain.
According to 2022 data (the pilot year), the food hub’s shared delivery service alone resulted in a 67% reduction of GHG emissions over the season for the four producers. This represents a reduction of 2,571 kg of CO2e compared to a scenario where the four producers did the deliveries separately.
The advantages of buying a shared truck
Sharing a truck means sharing the risks and costs of services and equipment. Indeed, the partner farms have seen real economic benefits due to reduced costs linked to:
Beyond the economic benefits, the purchase of a shared truck also acts as a territory anchor by fostering partnerships between players in the food system and by supporting the farms essential to territorial food systems.
The 2023 summer season
- Our fruits and vegetables traveled an average of just 34.2 km between the farms and the institutions, compared with an average food mileage of 2,500 km in the conventional food system.
- A total of 75 deliveries were pooled.
In terms of satisfaction, 91.7% of customers gave a score of 5 out of 5 for product freshness, and the vast majority gave a score of 5 out of 5 for the overall delivery experience.
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Acknowledgements
L’Aube Food Hub team would like to thank its generous partners. Your commitment and support are essential to making our food hub a pivotal point for local food.
A special thank you to PME MTL, whose funding enabled the purchase of this refrigerated truck and its branding in L’Aube’s colours, helping to maximize its reach.
Partenaires
L’Aube Food Hub is a project of the Local and Integrated Food System in Montreal (SALIM) program, a multi-partner program led by Collectif Récolte, with funding from Montreal in common. Montreal in common is a project piloted by the City of Montreal as part of the Smart Cities Challenge, made possible with the financial support of the Government of Canada.