MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Payo, the country’s leading ecommerce enabler, transforms local logistics industry practices with the recent introduction of electric vehicle cargo tricycles to the fleet of its sister company Agila Logistics and Delivery Express (Agila). With this, Payo is among the pioneering companies that use electric vehicles for deliveries, reducing the sector’s carbon emissions.
Payo is known to provide ecommerce solutions to various local and international brands, helping them serve more Filipino customers. To ensure that products and goods reach their destinations, Agila plays a crucial role in Payo’s operations and has been using traditional motorcycles and vans powered by fossil fuels.
In 2022, Payo started employing various sustainable measures and initiatives to promote environmentally-friendly logistics solutions. These include the integration of bike deliveries and switching to biodegradable delivery pouches. Now among the first companies to make the sustainable switch, Payo is procuring electric vehicles that will be part and soon replace Agila’s fuel-powered delivery fleet.
“At Payo and Agila, we are taking an active part in the revolution of being greener,” said Payo Managing Director June Cloma. “Shifting to electric vehicles will make our deliveries cleaner because it will help reduce carbon emissions. While it may cost more to introduce and maintain more sustainable policies and requirements, we look at this as an investment in our future as a company and as a community.”
According to a report prepared by Bain & Company, Temasek, GenZero, and Amazon Web Services entitled “Southeast Asia’s Green Economy 2023 Report: Cracking the Code,” the Philippines has a large potential to become greener along with the rest of the region. However, key challenges have also been identified that hinder growth. These include inadequate charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, lack of a national sector roadmap as well as carbon emissions-centric policies and regulations.
While there is still a lot of work to be done, Payo is doing its part and hopes to build a more sustainable logistics landscape by replacing its last mile delivery vehicles for the long term. “We initially deployed three electric vehicle tricycles for our pilot run, and our goal is to transform at least 50% of Agila’s fleet to electric vehicles by the end of 2024, and 90% soon after,” shared June.
According to Payo’s Founder and CEO Liron Gross, being sustainable is a long-term investment that benefits both companies and the environment. She also shared how fortunate they are to be working with brands that share the same passion and vision for sustainability.
“Our vision for sustainability is not for our company alone, but for the rest of the community,” said Gross. “We believe that being sustainable goes beyond having a zero-plastic office and separating your trash. It’s also about innovation and finding different and better ways to do the same things. Hopefully, our collective micro efforts will have a macro impact on the logistics sector and more,” said Liron.
