GREEN LIGHT FOR NFT’S NEW FLEET
15/01/09
NFT, a leading provider of time critical distribution services to the food retail and manufacturing sectors, has taken delivery of the greenest and most fuel efficient vehicles in the marketplace. It is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to provide the most cost efficient and sustainable supply chain management solutions.
The new vehicle fleet includes 54 Volvo Euro 5 FM13 tractor units and 25 new trailers. The Euro 5 engines, the highest standard for the logistics sector, enable cleaner combustion which controls emissions and minimises exhaust pollutants; whilst the trailers feature aerodynamic low skirts and roof diffusers, which allow better airflow around the trailer to maximise fuel efficiencies. The vehicles also operate with an automatic idle shutdown function after two minutes to save fuel when parked on a bay or whilst in stationary traffic.
Furthermore the trailers are fitted with the new innovative Spraydown system, an air water separator spray suppression mudflap, which not only achieves a 40 per cent reduction in wet weather spray obscuration caused by heavy vehicles but also offers significant fuel savings.
Says Dave Seaton, Fleet Engineer at NFT: “Circa 60% of our fleet is now running on Euro 5 engines, which is well ahead of legislative requirements. Combined with aerodynamic and water spray reduction features, which both increase fuel efficiency by circa 4%, we are able to offer our customers the best of both worlds - a greener and cost efficient logistics solution, the latter being critical in the current economic downturn.”
David Frankish, Chief Executive of NFT, added: “As a provider of logistics solutions which is leading the way in environmental responsibility, it is vital that we establish strong green credentials. It is also critical in these challenging economic times to identify additional cost efficiencies across all our areas of operations and sustainable practices are one way of achieving this.”
The continuous replacement of its fleet with Euro 5 vehicles has been one of a number of environmental activities that NFT has embarked upon over the last 18 months, which has helped the company reduce its carbon footprint by more than 100,000 tonnes over this period. Rigorous delivery planning has reduced empty mileage running by 25 per cent and the company has introduced a five per cent bio-diesel mix and a comprehensive driver training scheme that focuses on both safe and sustainable fleet performance.