FLEET MANAGEMENT
An ambulance trust has been recognised over and over in the past year for its commitment to cutting carbon from its fleet. Adam Hewitt reports.
A
lthough no NHS fleet manager has made it to the shortlist of the Green
Fleet Awards this year, the reigning champion is Mick Farmer (pictured right), assistant director of fleet at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
The same Trust has also recently been given the BusinessGreen ‘Leaders Sustainability Team of the Year’ award, and earlier this year was runner-up in the Best Public Sector Fleet (large) category of the Energy Saving Trust Fleet Hero Awards – so it is obviously doing something right.
Low-carbon driving
Mick Farmer was named Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year for 2010 by impressing the judges with his commitment to good environmental fleet management, promoting low-carbon driving and investing in a more fuel-efficient and ecological fleet. He is working with Alexis Keech, the Trust’s Environmental and Sustainability Manager, to ‘green’ the fleet.
Farmer helps run a fleet of more than 1,400 vehicles, which cover about 16 million miles per year across the 6,000 square miles of Yorkshire including the cities of Leeds, York, Sheffield, Bradford, Wakefield and Hull. The fleet uses around 4.3 million litres of fuel every year.
The Trust was the first ambulance service in the UK to participate in the Carbon Trust Carbon Management Programme and is working to reduce spending on fuel and reduce its carbon footprint by 30% by 2015.
Farmer and the team have been successfully persuading the Trust’s drivers to adopt more efficient and environmentally friendly driving techniques as part of the plan.
Fumes and the future
Around 60% of the ambulance services’ emissions come from fuel consumption – hence the focus on eco-driving training, which can be used for the 70% of the time when ambulances are running normally, without blue lights flashing.
Training days helped drivers significantly
reduce their fuel consumption, with regular top-up training, a programme of incentives and lots of communication from on high also being used to keep up performance.
For example, the Trust’s drivers are ranked in a league table, with awards for the best- performing in terms of fuel saved. This peer esteem has actually proved as effective an incentive as cash, the Trust has suggested.
Design challenge
The Trust has also been working with Leeds University on developing a more aerodynamic ambulance design, and has set up a zero emission cycle-response team.
It is also experimenting with methanol fuel cells, which can save thousands of kilograms of carbon a year through
preventing vehicles’ engines idling in the normal way.
After accepting his award, Farmer said: “Due to the nature of the work of our service, the impact on the environment is a high priority and the challenge to reduce carbon emissions is huge.
“So far, in a bid to help reduce fuel consumption and, in turn, reduce the carbon footprint of the Trust, we have taught our staff eco-driving techniques and purchased frontline vehicles which are more economical and efficient. However, we will continue to find ways of reducing public spending on fuel and of becoming a greener, more efficient organisation.”
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www.yas.nhs.uk national health executive Sep/Oct 11 | 73
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