Can a transport principle that is over 150 years old be applied to today’s truck traffic? Mercedes-Benz Trucks and the technology company MANSIO, based in Aachen, are reviving the idea of the Pony Express from the 19th century as part of a pilot project. In contrast to the Pony Express, where the focus was on transporting goods as quickly and uninterruptedly as possible, the aim of relay traffic based on the Pony Express, is to maximize the utilization of the vehicle: Truck drivers hand over their load or trailer to another truck at a meeting point. If the vehicle is back at the depot more quickly, it can be sent out again immediately – after a driver change, for example – and continue to earn money. This means that trucks pay for themselves more quickly for transport companies. In addition, the previous driver can sleep at home instead of in the truck in a parking lot. Returning home at the end of the shift can make the profession much more attractive in view of the increasing shortage of drivers. Relay traffic is already common practice within individual companies that have depots. The pilot project, which was launched in spring 2025, is now set to pave the way for cooperation between different transport companies.
Martin Gaissert, head of the project at Mercedes-Benz Trucks, says: “Relay traffic works with both diesel and electric trucks. However, the principle only makes sense if the journeys are coordinated and neither truck has to wait for the other. Continuous synchronization and thus the desired efficiency, is made possible by the exchange of data, sometimes in real time. This includes information on the respective vehicle location, predicted journey times, battery charge levels for electric trucks, planned routes and order data. The MANSIO software that we are using in our pilot project acts as an interface between the various systems of different companies.”
As a central component of the pilot project, the freight forwarder Logistik Schmitt from Bietigheim in Baden, Germany, together with a logistics partner, intends to operate the daily round trip of around 1,000 kilometers between the Daimler Buses site in Mannheim and a supplier near Leipzig, using this principle for six months: An eActros 600 and an Actros L meet at a defined swap point roughly in the middle. The trailers are swapped there and the trucks each drive back to their starting point in Mannheim and near Leipzig. The eActros 600 is charged at the plant in Mannheim and at Hermsdorfer Kreuz, where there is a charging park operated by Milence – the charging infrastructure joint venture of which Daimler Truck is one of the shareholders.
Pony Express: 3,200 kilometers by horse
The Pony Express was launched in the USA in 1860. It was a fast postal service for the time, with riders transporting the mail over a distance of 3,200 km from Missouri to California. The trick behind it: The riders each passed the mail on to the next rider in order to cover the long distance more quickly. It took around 10 days, 120 horses and 40 riders to cover the entire distance.
SOURCE: Daimler Truck
