Paper distributor plans to extend use of electric trucks following London trial
Gm2 logistics, the logistics subsidiary of The James McNaughton Group, has taken delivery of its first zero emission electric truck, which is now in service delivering copier paper to McNaughton’s London-based customers.
The Modec truck, which produces zero carbon dioxide emissions, is expected to deliver genuine reductions in the environmental impact of paper deliveries, saving over 4,250 litres of fuel and around 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, compared to the diesel truck it replaced.
McNaughton and gm2 have been so impressed with the truck’s performance that they have already ordered the next one, for servicing customers in the Belfast area. Looking to the future, gm2 plans to invest more heavily in electric delivery vehicles and is currently investigating electric trucks that can carry a heavier payload.
Peter Hockley, gm2’s logistics manager, who was instrumental in getting the vehicle trialled, says: “The arrival of the electric truck is another exciting step forward for gm2 and its customers, in terms of doing what we can to reduce the company’s environmental impact. As the company converted to 100 per cent renewable electricity in 2006, recharging of the trucks will also be carbon neutral.” The truck was officially
launched by Philip Sellwood, the chief executive officer of the Energy Saving Trust, the government organisation charged with helping UK companies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from road transport.
Sellwood says: “gm2’s electric truck is a real, tangible reminder of how hard the company has worked to reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from its fleet.”
