GEARING UP FOR CHANGE: TELETRAC NAVMAN DRIVES DISCUSSION AROUND CHANGING TRANSPORT LEGISLATION  

With the UK’s transport and logistics governing bodies making progress towards their environmental and climate objectives, driven by a plethora of new legalisation, Teletrac Navman’s UK Marketing Director, Peter Millichap, looks at the resulting impact on the country’s fleet operators 

Milton Keynes, July 31, 2019 - Operators face a multitude of challenges during a normal working week, but one of the most difficult is keeping abreast of changing legislation. Right now, there’s a number of social and environmental directives being introduced that fleet operators and their drivers need to be aware of, understand and act on, as they’ll bring significant transformation to the sector. 

As the sector is a major contributor to climate emissions , the government has elevated attention on reducing its environmental impact. As well as introducing cleaner public transport and a new ruling to prohibit the sale of the most polluting fuels, the government’s Clean Air Strategy will also end the sale of conventional new diesel and petrol cars, lorries and vans from 2040, in a bid to improve air quality in our towns and cities. 

Although it may seem like a long time until the ban comes into force, fleet operators will need to start thinking about reducing their reliance on the aforementioned engines before long and prepare for the new innovations, such as electric and clean-fuel vehicles. Support arms are already in place to help reduce the associated cost of introducing green measures, with the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) offering grants to operators that purchase new low-emission vehicles, as well as funding towards the cost of installing charge points at business premises for electric vehicles. 

Another act being rolled out and aimed to discourage the use of older, more polluting vehicles is London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), which is being picked up across the country. Local authorities including Bristol, Birmingham, Oxford and Sheffield are adopting similar regional initiatives to improve air quality and promote better driving within their cities. The initiative will have a huge bearing on fleet operators that regularly enter urban areas, as anyone using a non-exempt vehicle in the low-emissions restriction will be charged. With Transport for London estimating that 19,000 vans and 2,000 HGVs per day will be affected by the charge in the capital due to sitting outside of the emission regulations, this figure will only be exacerbated when UK-wide figures are collated, showing the size of the task at hand. 

The ambitious but necessary phase-out of fuel vehicles and launch of low emission zones are great examples of the pioneering initiatives that governmental bodies are issuing to assure a sustainable future, but they’re undeniably driving cost uncertainties and financial pressures for fleet operators turning their attention to running an eco-friendly fleet. 

Operators are under constant pressure to find savings to keep costs low, so to upgrade an entire fleet of vehicles to meet future requirements would be incredibly expensive and frankly unrealistic. However, the regulatory roll-out does provide businesses the opportunity to revaluate and streamline their fleet management approach. In view of this, fleet operators should embrace technology to help adapt to the changing conditions, stay compliant and run as efficiently as possible, while OEMs respond to the challenge laid down by the Government to produce low emission and electric vehicles. With telematics and tracking, businesses can access a wealth of data and help address issues like navigating around charge zones and congestion, excessive idling, speeding, harsh braking or acceleration, which all contribute to the rise in emissions.

No one can tackle air pollution alone, so it’s a duty of all road users and OEMs to understand current laws and future changes, and play a part in the proposed plans to clean up the state of the nation. Undoubtedly, there are challenging times facing the sector, but fleets should look to seize the opportunities associated with improving air quality and set appropriate short and long-term aims to ensure they’re ready for the significant changes that lie ahead. 
 

-ENDS-

For more information, please contact:

Harriet Williams
Account Manager
McCann Manchester
T: 01625 822 572  
E: harriet.williams@mccann.com 

About Teletrac Navman:

Teletrac Navman is a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider leveraging location-based technology and services for managing mobile assets. With specialized solutions that deliver greater visibility into real-time insights and analytics, Teletrac Navman helps companies make better business decisions that enhance productivity and profitability. Its fleet and asset management technology uncovers information that would otherwise go unseen, helping customers reduce risk and confidently move their business forward with certainty. It tracks and manages more than 500,000 vehicles and assets for more than 40,000 companies around the world. The company is headquartered in Glenview, IL, with additional offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. For more information visit teletracnavman.co.uk