Hackney council replaces fleet to comply with upcoming ULEZ criteria

Hackney council have acquired 250 new Citroën vans in order to run vehicles on high-blend sustainable biofuel produced from waste.

The 250 vans replaced its existing fleet of Citroën LCVs.

Citroën models dominate the new Light Commercial Vehicle fleet at Hackney Council in London, after a recent delivery of 150 Berlingo vans, 40 Dispatch vans, 20 Relay vans and 40 Relay cage-bodied tippers, including some equipped with tail lifts. The new models replace the previous Citroën vans, which have been de-commissioned.

All of the new vans are equipped with load area ply lining and selected optional equipment, according to each vehicle’s allocated use. Van equipment options include beacon bars, roof racks, pipe carriers and ‘Chapter 8’-compliant’ high visibility rear chevron markings, while some tippers are fitted with beacons, tool boxes and tail lifts.

The main council departmental users include Hackney’s Housing Division, which provides property maintenance services for the authority’s property portfolio; Waste Services, which deals with recycling, Street Cleaning and Maintenance and the Parks Division for ground maintenance, as well as a raft of smaller departments.

“We chose the Citroën brand for our current and previous fleets because Citroën supports us in our use of sustainable biofuels from waste”, explains Norman Harding, corporate fleet manager at Hackney Council.

“We have a long history of operating sustainable biofuels from waste, predominantly in our HGV vehicles, but Citroën will warrant the use of 30 per cent (B30) biofuel providing it meets the EN14214 quality standard, which our fuel does.”

The new Euro-6 compliant fleet will be operated for a minimum of five years and will bring Hackney Council’s entire fleet closer to meeting the requirements of the forthcoming London Ultra Low Emission Zone criteria.