The introduction of the T-charge in London this week has put added pressure on haulage companies to ensure their fleets meet the Euro 4/IV emissions standards or risk paying £10 per day to drive in central London. Upgrading to low-emission fleets can represent logistical challenges and cost implications but in order to combat the air quality crisis, action needs to be taken now and alternative fuels offer an immediate solution to reducing harmful NOx and PM emissions that are putting the nation’s health at risk.
To help reduce harmful emissions and improve local air quality, Brakes, the leading food wholesaler in the UK has switched all its DAF trucks operating in the London area from diesel to the cleaner burning GTL Fuel from Certas Energy. Having supplied Brakes with fuel for over eight years, Certas Energy has made the first delivery of 70,000 litres of GTL Fuel for Brakes’ fleet of 42 42 DAF LF55.220 18T trucks in London in September.
Steve Webster, Head of Indirect Goods & Services Procurement at Brakes commented: “Air quality is a big issue in the UK and our industry has an important role to play in helping to reduce harmful emissions. With over 2000 trucks on the road each day in the UK, we are always looking at ways to reduce emissions and operate more sustainably.”
“Our drivers have commented that there has been no adverse effect on engine performance by switching fuel and we’ve had a lot of feedback that the engines seem to be quieter particularly when idle. This is a major advantage as many of our routes see us travel through residential areas. The fact that we’ve been able to make this change with no issues from an operations perspective with our vehicles is also a major plus. It’s great to know that we’re having an immediate and positive impact on the reduction of NOx and PM emissions in London – helping our environment and the communities that live in it.”
Brakes has branded all of its DAF trucks operating in the London area with the GTL Fuel, Certas Energy and DAF logo with the tag line ‘Delivering on a cleaner-burning diesel for London’ to raise awareness of its commitment to lowering emissions. Following the successful use of GTL in the DAF trucks, Brakes has also started using the fuel in 36 of our Mercedes trucks.
Certas Energy has been pioneering the use of the fuel in the UK as a readily available, cleaner burning alternative to diesel that can be used as a drop-in solution to help reduce local emissions of regulated pollutants including particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and hydro carbons immediately.Jamie Hodges, Senior Energy Consultant at Certas Energy said, “It’s great to see a major national brand like Brakes Group adopt alternative fuels like GTL Fuel, recognising that they are an important mix of the solutions needed to tackle the air quality crisis. Switching to a cleaner burning alternative to diesel means Brakes is having an immediate impact on emission levels in London. With the recent introduction of the T-charge in London and impending roll out of Ultra Low Emission Zones in cities across the UK GTL Fuel offers an easy to implement, instantly effective measure to help reduce harmful emissions without impacting productivity.”
