A success story built over time, step by step, FERCAM SpA was founded in 1949 in Bolzano. A family-run Italian multinational logistics group, it now has with a presence in 21 countries, more than 100 subsidiaries, 2,000 employees and an extensive network of partners worldwide. FERCAM, which has a base at the Prologis parks at Bologna Interporto and in Rome, shares Prologis’ commitment to ESG issues.
When FERCAM was looking for environmentally sustainable premises for its Rome branch, it selected the Prologis logistics platform on the outskirts of Rome - a 12,000 square metre facility in a strategic site for serving the capital at the intersection of the Rome orbital motorway and the A24 (Rome-Teramo motorway) - for the launch of a forward-looking and ambitious project aimed at making its urban logistics 100% sustainable. And so, the project began on the technologically advanced Prologis platform.
The challenge that FERCAM had set itself was to start from a building made fully sustainable thanks to the recent works carried out by Prologis to ‘relamp’ the entire site with next-gen LED bulbs and install a 225 kW photovoltaic plant that will meet the current needs of FERCAM’s Rome branch, with the aim of closing the circle of last-mile deliveries and achieving emission-free delivery. This means that the branch's current fleet of 70 vehicles, which cover a total of 15,500 km across Rome each day and already include a proportion of sustainable vehicles, is undergoing a transformation. The fleet already contains 16 methane-fuelled trucks (soon to be fuelled by biomethane) and 2 electric vans, and from 2025, for deliveries in Rome’s Green Zone, it will solely comprise eco-sustainable vehicles.
To achieve this objective, FERCAM has initiated a series of major partnerships with the Italian National Research Council’s Institute for Advanced Energy Technologies and leading Italian companies, such as Sapio, in addition to commissioning the construction of its own prototypes of BEV and FCHEV vehicles designed to meet the group’s specific needs.
Prologis and FERCAM have found another avenue for a potential partnership in the PARKlife™ philosophy developed by Prologis. For FERCAM, sustainability is important from a social as well as an environmental standpoint. To this end, it has launched a number of projects whose goals include identifying areas of positive impact to be included in the transition to a Benefit Corporation. The aim of this ambitious transition is to involve the local area in socially useful activities that have a positive impact on the environment. For example, FERCAM has launched an initiative to create street furniture, with a focus on the common good throughout the process. Pallets and other waste materials are being used - in keeping with the circular economy - the solutions adopted have been inspired by nature, and refugees and asylum seekers have been invited to participate in creating the street furniture - all of which gives this innovative project a sustainable, environmental and social impact. The results are then used by FERCAM to improve the areas surrounding its warehouses and are offered to public and private entities. Maybe - in line with the PARKlife™ philosophy, we’ll also see some of them in Prologis parks in Italy soon.