River barges: floating urban warehouses?
Cities were built around rivers. For access to water, of course, but also for trade, freight transport and passenger travel... Yet this historic role of rivers appears to have been lost over time. Faced with traffic congestion and pollution in city centers, it is attempting a comeback through floating, mobile warehouses, urban ports and public pontoons. Interview with David Berthet, Head of Development and Operations in Lyon at Fludis.
How and why was Fludis founded?
Fludis founder Gilles Manuelle had established a company in 2001, La Petite Reine, specializing in cargo-bike deliveries. The issue at the time was that a bicycle has a maximum operating radius of only 3 kilometers. Numerous, well-distributed storage locations were therefore needed to serve an entire city such as Paris. Yet such spaces are scarce. He then explored another complementary solution: river transport, which can cover greater distances, with cargo bikes loaded onboard. He founded Fludis in 2019. Goods are brought in beforehand by truck, outside the city. The boat is self-sufficient for loading, as it is equipped with cranes. Orders are then prepared onboard, as are the cargo bikes. The system avoids the multiple handling breaks that complicate conventional urban deliveries. Six boats are currently operating in Paris, one in Lyon, and another is under construction. Each is between 200 and 1,750 m² in size and can handle between 1,000 and 7,000 parcels a day, while delivery time commitments are easier to meet because rivers are less subject to traffic disruptions than roads.
Last year, the Sogestran group and Ademe Investissement became minority shareholders, joining Banque des Territoires and Idec Groupe.
What constraints need to be overcome to adopt river transport?
While we address the scarcity of land by setting up Mobile Urban Logistics Spaces (ELUM)—in other words, floating warehouses—we sometimes encounter conflicts over quay use. Indeed, several years ago, metropolitan areas decided to bring their rivers back to life, and with cruises, water-based leisure activities, swimming, and barges converted into housing, it is essential to preserve quays dedicated to logistics or supporting mixed uses in our cities.
For businesses, the economic model behind these solutions is clearly a key issue. We are working on sustainable models tailored to each situation so that these new arrangements deliver productivity gains for businesses.
River transport is described as decarbonized, yet boats and barges can also cause pollution... What innovations are being implemented to reduce its footprint?
Our most recent vessels have electric propulsion or meet Euro 6-equivalent standards, meaning zero or low emissions when operating in cities. The combination of consolidation and decarbonization brings genuine added value to urban logistics. Sailing could also be a viable solution, though over longer distances.
What would it take for rivers to once again become a genuine tool for freight transport?
It is only in the past 10 years, with growing awareness of climate change and a desire to ease congestion in cities, that this mode of transport has once again attracted the interest of public policymakers. Today, we must work with all public- and private-sector stakeholders to define a long-term strategy for developing the use of our rivers, particularly in cities, since they are the only transport corridors that are not congested. For example, the intention to eliminate low-emission zones (ZFE), when many stakeholders have invested in new vehicles or new operating models, does not send a positive signal to businesses.
