A recent report by Wincanton, which operates one of the largest shared-user transportation networks in the British Isles, revealed that two-thirds of supply chain decision-makers are deprioritizing hitting their net zero targets. Respondents in the Share the road to sustainability report, published in September 2024, said this was due to the lack of viable and affordable alternative-fuel vehicles and concerns about the cost of decarbonizing their fleets in the short and long terms.
“The use of alternative fuels is certainly progressing in the right direction. However, widespread adoption of these is still several years away,” explains Helen Flanagan, Wincanton’s product director of EyeQ – the firm’s digital transportation solution. She highlights that although there are now many ‘accessible’ options for light- and medium-duty vehicles, there are only 300 electric HGVs currently registered in the UK and only one public HGV charging point, according to the Road Haulage Association (RHA).
“Biofuels, such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), are another option being developed as a sustainable alternative to traditional fuels, but these are still expensive to produce,” Flanagan continues. “Expectations are also high for fuels such as hydrogen in long-haul operations, but it will require years of technological evolution before such alternatives reach the productivity and maturity that efficient supply chains crave.”
While Wincanton’s figures may point to a wider slowdown in EV adoption, it is pushing ahead with its own fleet decarbonization program, although “diesel will remain the primary option in the short-term”, Flanagan notes. “We are taking proactive steps to invest in our eco-friendly fleet. In 2023, for instance, we announced a multimillion-pound investment in electric vehicles for our work with IKEA. Meanwhile, as of August 2023, 85% of our logistics fleet serving [tool and hardware store] Screwfix now refuels with HVO.”
Meanwhile, other organizations including the International Post Corporation (IPC), DHL Group, Royal Mail and DPD UK all stress that electrification is still the way forward and that gradual progress is being made.
“We’ve seen a stable 2% annual increase of EVs in our Sustainability Measurement and Management System (SMMS) fleet of more than 600,000 vehicles,” confirms Pieter Reitsma, manager of sustainability at the IPC. “The results for 2023 showed EVs made up 22.2% of the group’s fleet; this increased from 3.3% in 2012. Data collected from the 25 posts in the SMMS program shows that operating costs are now less of an issue and high fossil fuel prices make EVs more favorable. Furthermore, charging infrastructures are becoming more widespread, but there are still challenges to overcome in this area.”
Like Flanagan, Reitsma believes biofuels have an important role to play in reducing emissions from heavy vehicles, but notes that these fuels are just “transitional” as they still emit carbon emissions. “Ultimately, we are striving for zero-emission vehicles, which to me means electric vehicles,” he adds.
Supporting sustainability drives
While logistics firms continue to wait for the right affordable and cost-effective EV solutions to hit the market – especially for HGVs – an increased focus is being placed on how to make existing non-electrified fleets more sustainable using the latest telematics technologies.
“Telematics can be used to improve route optimization strategies to lower the CO2 per kilometer driven metric,” explains Reitsma. “This ensures non-alternative-fuel vehicles are used as efficiently as possible. USPS is using technology in this way to optimize its delivery routes as it transitions away from air transportation.”
Pos Malaysia believes that telematics technologies offer a viable short-term solution to reduce fleet emissions. The post is on track to reach its goal of 100% first- and last-mile green delivery by 2030, despite challenges such as workforce capabilities, cost and capacity, and has made substantial investments in telematics integration in recent years. In 2023, for example, the operator successfully equipped all 277 trucks in its fleet with advanced telematics systems, and outfitted 618 vans and 110 motorcycles with the latest telematics technology.
“These systems offer our fleet managers comprehensive insights into safety, transportation, maintenance and operational metrics,” confirms Charles Brewer, Pos Malaysia’s group CEO. “They mainly capture data on mileage traveled, energy use and driving score. The data allows us to track idle time and speed, and make improvements for our drivers. Supporting driving behaviors in this way leads to a safer and greener delivery. Telematics also provides real-time data analytics that enables efficient route planning, thus faster delivery times.”
In the UK, Royal Mail and DPD are also investing in telematics and fleet management solutions. Royal Mail, which is aiming for 100% of its delivery vehicles to be zero emission by 2035 and 100% of its company cars zero emission by 2030, is mainly using telematics technologies to improve driver behavior.
“To reduce both emissions and risks from driving, this program promotes the use of telematics, provides training, holds weekly driver briefings, rewards our driving champions and uses positive interventions such as coaching and training,” says Anna Pearson, Royal Mail’s fleet innovation and environment manager.
A key focus of the program in recent years has been idling, which, Pearson notes, can “produce up to twice as many tailpipe emissions as an engine in motion”. She continues, “Since 2017, we have successfully reduced idling in our vehicles by almost half, from an average of 32% to 18%, which has in turn reduced carbon emissions and fuel consumption.”
Meanwhile, DPD UK, which is aiming for an all-electric collection and delivery (C&D) fleet by 2030 and net zero by 2040, uses telematics technologies to refine its existing vehicles. Around 7,300 of its C&D vehicles have trackers fitted to gather information such as odometer readings, location data, vehicle diagnostics and onboard diagnostic trouble codes (also referred to as engine fault codes). “This helps us with route optimization, proactive maintenance, service scheduling, etc,” comments Tim Jones, the company’s director of sustainability.
DPD UK also works with telematics firm Microlise to rate HGV driver performance on a scale from A to G. “Here we are looking at things like harsh acceleration and braking, and speeding,” explains Jones. “This helps us reduce fuel consumption, which is still important even though more than 90% of our HGV fleet runs on biofuels.”
Jones also notes that fleet telematics is crucial for the rollout of AI-powered robot deliveries. “Fleet management technologies can help us see where they can and can’t go and monitor their actual journeys,” he says. “These robots currently operate at four different sites with each delivering around 30 parcels a day. We are going to deploy these robots in four more depots over the course of this year and into next. Telematics will help us shape this rollout.”
The changing role of telematics
DHL Group uses telematics technologies for route optimization, vehicle maintenance and diagnostics, fuel management and asset utilization, with the latter enabling operators to optimize fleet size and use, therefore minimizing unnecessary emissions from underused vehicles.
However, although the group is continuously investing in digital solutions, such as fleet management and telematics technologies that help reduce emissions, it “does not consider it a standalone or alternative solution to decarbonization through alternative drives and fuels”, according to Christoph Schoenwandt, head of GoGreen for DHL Freight – the road freight provider of the DHL Group and part of DHL Global Forwarding.
As the industry transitions to electric power, these telematics technologies do, however, have a new role to play. “Telematics can aid in EV rollout by monitoring battery health, optimizing charging routes, enabling predictive maintenance, managing energy consumption and providing driver feedback for efficient driving practices,” adds Schoenwandt.
This approach to using telematics for EV rollout has been adopted by all the operators mentioned in this article. “Currently, we have about 4,000 electric vans on the roads; with 10,000 in total in our collection and delivery fleet, we need to accelerate our EV rollout over the next few years to reach our 2030 target,” comments DPD’s Jones. “Telematics is going to be a crucial part of this journey.”
DPD UK’s Vision 30 initiative, which commits the company to all-electric delivery in 30 UK towns and cities by the end of 2024, has recently benefited from telematics data, according to Jones. “Last year, using telematics, we identified 150 electric vans that could be moved from one location into a Vision 30 city, helping us achieve our targets,” he explains.
Royal Mail currently has the UK’s largest EV delivery fleet, with more than 5,000 vehicles across 154 electric delivery and collection units, 22 of which are completely electrified. “We’re also adding another 2,100 electric vans to our fleet over the next year, taking the total electric fleet to 7,100,” says Pearson. “Our telemetry data helps us coordinate our ongoing EV rollout across the UK. We use daily mileage data as part of our selection process to identify the most appropriate delivery offices to transition to EVs, helping to overcome range anxiety and giving managers the confidence to undertake the transition.”
Pos Malaysia leases many of its EVs because EV technology and infrastructure are still in their infancy in Malaysia. It believes that fleet telematics are critical to EV rollout. “Our leasing services come with a telematics dashboard, which is customized for EV monitoring,” explains Brewer. “This dashboard includes information on battery state of charge, total power consumption and duration to complete charging, trip distance and the driver’s behavior. This real-time data gives us comprehensive insights into the vehicle’s overall performance, safety and operational metrics. At the same time, the data also enables us to do predictive maintenance.”
Government help required
Pos Malaysia’s leasing approach has enabled it to overcome many of the obstacles in the way of EV rollout. “We believe long-term leasing – around five years – is a suitable and viable option for two reasons,” Brewer reports. “First, to minimize up-front capital investment, and second to give ourselves the flexibility to adapt to any new upgrades and changes in technology that may happen in the future.”
Royal Mail believes that although up-front EV costs can be high, total cost of ownership is often much lower than for diesel vehicles. “We started our electrification journey in 2017/2018, and, on average, our vehicle maintenance costs have since fallen by 55% and fuel costs by 80%,” explains Pearson. “Our electrification scheme is anticipated to break even at around three-and-a-half years into the vehicle lifetime – looking back, we couldn’t afford not to do it.”
Royal Mail is, however, calling on the UK government to offer more support to assist with EV rollout, especially for charging infrastructure. “Grid resilience and the cost of substation upgrades can deter us from putting more than a handful of electric vans at any one site, due to the size of our fleet,” says Pearson. “We are working with partners to trial potential solutions, but further work and public investment are needed to deliver a smart, flexible energy system that allows the installation of charging infrastructure where needed, at a reasonable cost.”
DHL’s Schoenwandt agrees. “Governments and stakeholders should invest in developing robust charging infrastructure for EVs and alternative fueling stations,” he notes. “Accessible and reliable infrastructure is crucial for logistics firms to transition to cleaner technologies and reduce emissions effectively.”
Meanwhile, Wincanton is calling for more collaboration to improve fleet sustainability. “Promoting collaboration between businesses can play a hugely positive role in helping businesses reduce their supply chain emissions.” Flanagan states. “Working together with third-party logistics companies can enable them to access technology they may not have.”
This article was originally published in the December 2024 issue of Parcel and Postal Technology International
