Parcel deliveries that don’t cost the earth
Company Focus
We've entered the GreenFleet awards on numerous occasions but we're particularly excited to be shortlisted this year. Due to Covid and Brexit, it's been a challenging time for our sector. The pandemic changed the retail landscape dramatically as people turned to home delivery. Parcel volumes soared to unprecedented levels and we had to act quickly, effectively implementing our five-year growth plan in just five months. We successfully delivered more than 650million parcels in 2020-21, our biggest year on record.
As a responsible carrier, it's never been more important to recognise our impact on the environment and to consolidate our commitment to do the right thing for our people and clients. Sustainability and ethics are at the forefront of our operating model as we move along the road to net zero.
Our fleet
We use a biomethane CNG-powered fleet as an alternative to diesel and currently have 90 CNG tractor units. We’ve ordered another 70, bringing the total to 160 – 50% of our core tractor fleet. This will give us the UK’s largest CNG parcel delivery fleet. Approximately 40% of our first-mile fleet is powered by CNG.
Each new IVECO S-WAY unit reduces CO2 emissions by more than 80% when compared to a Euro 6 diesel vehicle – a reduction of 150 tonnes of CO2 per vehicle and 24,000+ tonnes of CO2 across the entire CNG fleet annually.
Meanwhile, electric vans give us an alternative fuels option for all journeys. Our Gemini site operates with 100% electric vehicles to service final-mile deliveries in central London and we’ve ordered 168 new zero-emission Mercedes-Benz eSprinters to service our out-of-home ParcelShop network. This is the most carbon-efficient way to send, receive or return parcels, and we aim to undertake all ParcelShop collections with electric vehicles at the earliest opportunity.
What else are we doing?
Our flagship hubs and depots feature a host of eco innovations including solar panels, rainwater harvesting, CNG fuelling and electric vehicle charging points. Our cutting-edge products and services include packageless returns, parcel diversions to ParcelShops and Lockers (reducing time spent on the road), on-foot street portering and local-to-local deliveries via electric bike.
It’s all part of our wider ESG (environment, social and governance) strategy. As the business continues to grow, we’re working hard to support retail clients and customers with sustainable delivery solutions. Our key targets are to reduce building energy consumption by 20% per parcel by 2030 and to hit net zero for direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2035.
For more information please visit our website.