TRANSPORT Sustainable Electric
Northern Housing’s 2018 Supplier of the Year, Sovini Trade Supplies, introduced electric vehicles to their fleet this year as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility pledge. The zero carbon emission eNV200 Nissan Van, supplied by SYMPHONY Electric Vehicles supports the comapny’s daily operations, making Sovini the first merchants in the City Region to introduce zero emission deliveries as part of the company’s sustainable transport programme. The introduction of electric vehicles to the fleet will note a significant cost saving for the company alongside the added benefits to the environment. With the added bonus that electric vehicles are road tax exempt and cost just £2 per 100 miles to run. Sovini Trade Supplies’ Regional Operations Manager, Alan Evans, says “We are committed to implementing pioneering methods to ensure our Corporate Social Responsibility is upheld. This year we decided to invest in electric vehicles which has not only provided benefits to the environment but also offers financial savings too. We are working to introduce more electric vehicles to our growing fleet in 2019.”
Rail over road
Looking to a road less travelled, Hanson Cement has invested £250,000 in restoring the railway siding at its plant in Ashton-in- Makerfield. This is the first time in ten years that rail-freight has run into the depot and means hundreds of lorry journeys will be off the roads each year.
Simon Day, Hanson UK’s regional general manager for the north, said “The investment in the site is an important part of our rail strategy. We are working to try to increase the tonnage of aggregates we transport this way across the UK. These three trains a week will take around 1500 truck journeys off the road each year and mean that we only need to put the material onto road transport for the last 5-10 miles rather than the 60-80 miles we do
now. This will reduce the distances travelled on the road by our truck fleet by around 500,000 miles per year.”
Hanson will be working in partnership with GB Railfreight to run three trains a week from its quarry in Shap, Cumbria, down to its site in Ashton. It is expected that over 200,000 tonnes of material will be taken by rail each
year and saw its first service run on 15th October.
Fuel efficient fleet Huws Gray has also invested in new additions to their Lake District fleet in a bid to improve their fuel efficiency. The new 7.5 tonne FUSO Canter, a 7C15 model, has a comfort day cab with roof-mounted beacon and a fuel efficient 3.0 litre common-rail turbo-diesel which produces 110kW. Sturdily built around a ladder frame chassis, the Canter has earned a reputation for strength and durability. It is also compact and light in weight, offering a market-leading payload of up to a tonne more than a conventional 7.5-tonner, although its tipping body is fabricated from steel rather than aluminium, Huws Gray’s truck will carry an outstanding 3,800kg.
The Canter’s rugged build quality, coupled
with its small footprint and cab-over-engine design that gives it a very tight turning circle, make the vehicle ideally suited to work in the varied terrain of the Lake District. Manager of Huws Gray’s Penrith branch, Kevin Dudson, says: “The new Canter is flat- out, six days a week, delivering anything from loose aggregates to plasterboard on pallets and other products. Given that we’re operating in such a demanding rural area we take full advantage of the available payloads and our trucks get plenty of hammer but experience has proven that our Canters are more then up to the task.”
“They’re extremely reliable and we’ve suffered little in terms of unplanned downtime, which is crucial given the delivery commitments we make to our customers. We certainly don’t get any complaints about them from the drivers either. Our previous 7.5-tonner was nearing the end of its life, so we were delighted when we learned that the company would be replacing it on a like-for-like basis with another Canter. The new truck looks great and is an excellent example of money that’s been injected into the branch since our acquisition by Huws Gray, which helps to explain why everyone here is very upbeat about the future.” BMJ
LEADERS IN CUSTOMISED HANDLING SOLUTIONS
+353 47 80500
combilift.com January 2019
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net 27
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