Nine out of 10 fleets has taken action to reduce their CO2 emissions, according to a Fleet News poll.
The news comes in the wake of research, commissioned by Volvo, showing 98% of the fleets it questioned had employed environmental initiatives.
That compares to 94% of respondents to the Fleet News poll who said that they had taken action to reduce their CO2 emissions.
Introducing an emissions cap on company car choice lists was one of the most popular measures being employed by respondents to the Fleet News poll.
“I have capped our limit to 120g/km on all cars, excluding commercials,” explained Simon Bowman, logistics administrator at James Paget University Hospitals.
Chris Semple, of Weber Marking Systems, added: “We introduced a maximum CO2 limit of 160g/km on all new vehicles and are about to lower that to 150g/km.”
Meanwhile, Trevor Pinhorne, transport administrator at Ordnance Survey, said: “We are charged with reducing our CO2 year-on-year and encourage our drivers to take up vehicles with a lower CO2, explaining the benefits of paying a lower benefit-in-kind tax rate.”
This echoes what fleet managers told Volvo researchers when they said that company car drivers were mainly concerned with the amount of tax they pay on their vehicle than any environmental argument (Fleet News, June 10).
Capping CO2 emissions can keep that tax burden down and it doesn’t mean drivers need to have fewer cars to choose from.
Otis cut emissions from its new company cars from an average of 148g/km to 123g/km in a little over a year after capping its fleet at 139g/km.
But the stairlift supplier achieved this despite widening the choice of cars on its policy and allowing drivers to upgrade their cars.
When all the cars on the four-year replacement cycle, which are supplied on an outsourced contract hire service from Lex Autolease, are changed, the company says it will have cut emissions by 17% – the equivalent of reducing its fleet by 52 cars.
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adamrollins - 29/06/2010 12:41
CO2 reduction through management of the types of vehicles a fleet has available is an important factor in fleet environmental management; whether or not the BIK savings are the main motivation is no bad thing if the result is the same. Fleet managers should also ensure that there is a proper system for journey management and mileage management in place for their drivers. The tangible savings that can be achieved on BIK on fuel, VAT and fuel usage are greater than can be achieved through driving environmentally friendly vehicles. By introducing a system like MIDAS FMS it is entirely possible achieve these benefits immediately, for the entire fleet, without waiting for vehicles to be replaced.