With the unpredictability of petrol prices, most businesses have found their fuel bills rising. In this climate, and with the effect of transport on the environment under constant scrutiny, IAM Drive & Survive has seen an increase in demand for its fuel-saving and greener driving training course, ecolution.

Customers completing the IAM Drive & Survive course have reported significant savings to their fuel bills, with one delegate achieving a 55.2 per cent increase in their mpg.

Commercial Group, a user of ecolution training since 2009, has seen an improvement in mpg for all of their drivers. Commercial Group is a substantial fleet operator with over 84 per cent of its baseline carbon footprint being attributed to its fleet of vehicles.

The company expected a 15 per cent improvement from providing environmentally responsible driver training but using ecolution enabled the drivers to exceed this, with drivers seeing improvements ranging from 20 per cent to 40 per cent over the six months after training. For an average driver, this equates to a cost saving of over £750 and a 2.2 tonne reduction of CO2 each year.

“Our drivers said they were amazed at how much fuel could be saved by changing a few basic ways of driving,” said Simon Graham, environmental strategist for Commercial Group.

“As over 84 per cent of our baseline carbon footprint was from our fleet vehicles, the way that our people drive is very important to our environmental programme. ecolution has had a significant impact on our overall carbon reduction programme, helping to slash our carbon footprint, save us money and provide a better service to our customers. ecolution has helped us achieve a 75 per cent reduction in the carbon footprint of that fleet.”

Simon Elstow, Head of Training at IAM Drive & Survive said: “Greener driving is top of the agenda so it’s not surprising we’re increasingly being approached by companies who are serious about reducing their carbon footprint and making cost savings. I often hear from customers how delighted they are with the results as well as just how simple the eco techniques are to pick up and apply.”

ecolution has helped Commercial Group achieve the Green Business Award for Carbon Emissions Achievement and Ambition in 2009 and the European Office Products Award for Environmental Sustainability in 2010.

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