“Lift off has begun, have you?” Grahame Neagus, Head of LCV, Renault Trucks UK & Ireland
As we enter
the summer of 2022, the transition to a low carbon transport future is well underway. Never before has our industry been so buzzing with technology and excitement and this is spreading across all aspects of the sector, from selling, operating and keeping on the road to financing. Every part of what we do today is already being touched by this seismic shift in transportation. Are you ready for lift off?
during the pandemic, it is still viewed quite negatively outside the sector. This means we are dealing with an ageing, male-dominated workforce, with no one to replace them.
The Government’s Decarbonisation Plan has given us all a roadmap to which we can align our own strategies, and its impacts will be far-reaching for road freight – by 2030 we will be looking at a very different landscape. Yet how many businesses actually have a decarbonisation plan today that include both the vehicles and the necessary infrastructure?
For example, at Renault Trucks we have already introduced electric vehicles from 3.1 – 26 tonnes into the market, and by 2023 we will have a 100% electric version of every vehicle in our range and we have a vibrant apprenticeship and graduate intern programme. As a business, our parent company, Volvo Group, has committed to the most ambitious targets in the industry, to achieve net-zero value chain greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and interim targets that have been independently validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, with a roadmap that is in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Certainly with conventional diesel prices increasing the focus on alternative power sources has never been greater but this does not only mean a shift to alternative fuels and technologies: the latest generation synthetic diesels, like HVO, can and do offer another green alternative to be considered in the whole blended solution of future decarbonisation. In addition, as the current recruitment challenges for transport and logistics also hit the headlines, how can we make sure we attract the right people now to build a thriving and changing industry fit for the future? One of the first issues to face is that for many young people starting out, transport and logistics is not a particularly aspirational career and, despite being lauded as keyworkers
10 destination net zero | summer 22
It is clear that we urgently need to reframe the narrative to attract and retain young talent. Fast moving, fast paced and high tech, this is an industry with great prospects and a sustainable future.
For younger workers who value organisations that have a positive impact on the world, the transport and logistics industry is ideally placed to appeal to the next generation. Yes, people get very excited about the latest electric cars like Tesla, Lotus and Jaguar, but the Transport and Logistics sector is advancing at a faster rate than cars. These are exciting times both for those already in our sector and for those new entrants on the first rung of the ladder, with strong growth and opportunities for career progression ahead.
And by sharing a commitment to innovation, technology and the environment, by looking at your own decarbonisation plan across all aspects of your operation - drivers, traffic desks and workshops - together we will deliver the government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan. However, both government and local government must incentivise and support businesses not only in the purchase of commercial electric vehicles, but also in the infrastructure and the people to deliver – to accelerate this change. Government has made some changes in legislation to start addressing the issues, for example GVWs. As an unladen electric LCV typically weighs more than its diesel equivalent, there has been an increase in the maximum permissible payloads to level the playing field. Recognising the impact of batteries on payload, the Government changed driving licence rules in 2018. Now Category B licence holders who are already eligible to drive vehicles up to 3500kg can drive alternative fuel vehicles (AVF) that weigh up to 4250kg. Many operators have seized the opportunity to run at a higher GVW. And on the face of it, this sounds like good news. However, we are coming across more operators who, having only ever operated up to 3500kgs, do not fully understand the operational impact from a legal perspective. Why? Because the allowance to go up to 4250kgs GVW is only applicable to the
