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April 2023

Transcan

Pooling the flow of goods in the region

Via its new subsidiary Eco City, the company founded by Franck Cannata has recently developed a virtuous urban logistics solution based on decarbonising the last mile.

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Transcan est partenaire du Dispositif Objectif CO² pour la 7e année consécutive.
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@DR

In Franck Cannata’s family background, his grandfather transported wood as a log truck driver in the hinterland. “Then my father went into the haulage business, but at a certain point, the national carriers set up shop in Nice. Our former clients became our competitors, and he sold his business in 1997,” says this entrepreneur. This car buff took a sideways step in 2001 and became a transportation logistics specia-list. “It was clear that logistics was adding true value across the globe, but we didn’t yet know what that meant at regional and, even more so, local carrier level,” explains the Nice-based director. Having started in a modest warehouse in the Route de la Baronne, the company now occupies 90,000 m2 of storage space in the Alpes-Maritimes and has three hubs in the centre of Nice for last-mile delivery. It took a lot of conviction to get started in this business. Each truck costs tens of thousands of euros, and each square metre needs to be optimised, chiefly because our landscape is very constrained,” continues the manager. “With an increase of 15% year on year since founding the company, we now
have a 35 million euros turnover and 250 registered vehicles.”

 

What if there was no urgency 

to be delivered tomorrow?

“All major cities have now introduced low-emission mobility zones, which will become more and more restrictive over time. With this in mind, we have developed our Eco City concept, proposing new solutions adapted to new environmental preservation paradigms. The principle? To massify and pool the flow of goods from various outlets on the immediate outskirts of Nice. Once the goods have been sorted and optimised, they are transported to inter-city hubs in the city centre using low-carbon vehicles. Electrically assisted cargo bikes then complete the last few metres of delivery. Reducing air, noise, and visual pollution, improving traffic flow, and reducing the volume of lorries. Transcan aims to revolutionise the world of freight transportation and delivery in a more eco-responsible way. Solutions that should be part of a global, regional approach, motivating everyone’s sense of responsibility. 

In this sense, Franck Cannata also invites us to rethink certain new practices: “Nowadays, the norm is to have your order delivered the day after you place it. But I believe it is vital to think long and hard about this culture of immediacy; it is all too rarely justifiable and environmental heresy when it becomes systematic. In my view, it also seems that we should know the environmental impact of transport when we buy an item, as when buying a washing machine, where energy labelling has become compulsory.” Initially having envisaged its services within the Nice region, Transcan is now expanding along the entire coastal strip from Menton to Mandelieu. And Cannes will be the next playground for its Eco City subsidiary.

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