After a successful launch in 2019, the competition for cargo bikes will enter the next round this April at the International Cargo Bike Festival in Nijmegen, in order to promote the professionalisation of solutions in the rapidly developing segment of cargo bikes.
After it’s successful launch last year, the International Cargo Bike of the Year Award is moving on to the next round. Together with the International Cargo Bike Festival, which returns to Nijmegen in the Netherlands this year from April 24-26, HUSS-VERLAG launches a new edition of the competition for commercial cargo bikes with its featuring publication LOGISTRA.
“The great response of the first edition as well as the currently very high rate of innovation in the industry has encouraged us to award the prize again already in 2020. There is yet a lot of interest and numerous other new products. We definitely want to offer them a stage in the current year as well” explains Johannes Reichel, Head of Test + Technology at LOGISTRA and specialist for sustainable city logistics.
The award is intended to highlight the developments within the framework of an internationally renowned event and to further advance the professionalisation of the industry. Numerous new manufacturers have recently entered the scene here and have moved on from prototype stage to series production.
“We can clearly feel that the solutions are meeting increasingly professional demands and that the technology is constantly being improved. The interest in participating in the International Cargo Bike Festival is already high” said ICBF organiser Jos Sluijsmans happily.
Interest from the commercial B2B sector in particular has increased significantly. At the festival, which once again combines a varied programme of specialist lectures, panel discussions and an exhibition with representatives from manufacturers, the industry and politics, potentially interested logistics companies can gather information about the trends and tendencies in the sector of e-cargobikes, bike bodies and bike trailers. “Nowhere else in Europe can you get such a concentrated offer when you consider entering the cargo bike logistics sector” said LOGISTRA editor Reichel.
In addition, the topic is more urgent than ever, not only because entry regulations are threatening across Europe, the parcel market continues to boom and the volume of shipments is increasing. “Climate change sets the framework in which we urgently and quickly need to find more sustainable solutions for urban delivery and commercial transport” said Director Sluijsmans, who launched the ICBF 2012 against this background. A lot of time has passed since then, and development has been rather slow. Now, however, Sluijsmans sees a boost with the entry of increasingly professional players into the cargo bike market.
In addition, suppliers from the automotive sector would provide highly innovative equipment suitable for commercial use as suppliers of drive technology. “The electrification of drive systems makes sense, especially for cargo bikes – and it is only now that the full potential of this still widely underestimated new, but actually old means of transport for urban commercial traffic in general is being tapped” said Reichel. Cargo bikes, in combination with micro-depots, could play a key role in solving inner-city logistics problems, they would also have potential as “game changers” for craftsmen, service, maintenance and repair companies, Sluijsmans and Reichel are sure.
Cargo Bike of the Year – 2020 Factsheet
Cargo Bike of the Year – Application Form
The INTERNATIONAL CARGOBIKE OF THE YEAR Award was initiated following the renowned award INTERNATIONAL VAN OF THE YEAR, in which HUSS-VERLAG provides the German member of the expert jury. Last year, the HUSS-VERLAG also published a highly acclaimed reference book on the topic of the use of load wheels in logistics, which sums up the topic. The guidebook “Sustainable urban logistics: Why the cargo bike wins the last mile” is intended to help logisticians to start and build up a Cargobike fleet. It was written by the Nuremberg logistics scientist Prof. Ralf Bogdanski from the Technical University of Nuremberg. The trade magazine LOGISTRA from HUSS-VERLAG has already organised numerous expert forums and symposia on the subject of Cargobikes and has portrayed numerous load bike users in the best practice series “LOGISTRA City Check” with user reports and pilot projects. The new award fits into this editorial line.
