The bike trailer that could replace city delivery trucks

New bike technologies aim to transport families more easily, make biking safer, and expand people’s access to bikes. But a new product from France-based FlexiModal wants to change how packages and goods are delivered in cities, and it all starts with a bike trailer.

Called BicyLift, the bike trailer allows users to lift up to eight times their weight with minimal effort using a lever arm, chassis, and two wheels. The system uses a drawbar with three adjustable angles: one for transporting the trailer by hand, another for transport by bike, and a third horizontal position for when the trailer isn’t in use. The trailer also boasts a braking system with inertia control that activates in proportion to the braking of the bike.

Built to accommodate a Euro pallet—which measures 120 x 80 cm—BicyLift features a fixed fork to slide under the pallet and leaf springs to hold it in position during transport. Once it’s attached, the trailer can be easily hauled by an electric bike—pulling upwards of 400 pounds of cargo. FlexiModal also makes an urban container that can be used with the trailer to haul merchandise or other packages not transported by pallet. This container can haul around 300 pounds in a completely enclosed and secure box.

According to Fast Company, New York City-based Breakaway Courier Systems has been using the BicyLift and sees it as an efficient, nonpolluting, and easier way to perform e-commerce deliveries. FlexiModal’s trailer can handle larger loads than other cargo bikes, and more cargo means the ability to make more deliveries, faster.

Overall, trailer systems like the BicyLift could be key for cities that want to go car-free, reduce traffic, fight pollution, and fix the last-mile delivery conundrum. It could also be another way to ensure that all those Amazon packages are delivered on time. That is, of course, if the drones don’t deliver them first.