Fleet Alliance helps Clark Contracts go green
21 June 2010
Paisley-based construction, refurbishment, and maintenance specialist, Clark Contracts, has introduced a free green fleet review initiative in conjunction with the Energy Saving Trust (EST) and Fleet Alliance, and as a result has now set a 5% fuel efficiency saving target by the end of October, brought in new ‘green’ models and is suggesting changes in driving behaviours for drivers.
The review, which was recommended by the company’s fleet management provider, Glasgow-based fleet solutions provider Fleet Alliance, involved a face to face meeting with EST officials and detailed analysis of the company’s fleet of 105 vehicles, which includes around 60 light commercial vehicles and 45 cars.
The review showed that there were potentially significant cost savings to be made on the Clark Contracts fleet and looked at a number of areas for possible improvement, including more environmentally aware driving techniques, closer monitoring of driving speeds, car sharing where possible, and making more ‘green’ car options available for drivers.
Clarks Contracts runs of mixed fleet of light commercial vehicles for building workers and tradesmen, and a wide mix of cars for contract managers, surveyors and general managers. The company funds its vehicles through contract hire with three year/60,000 miles contracts for the cars and four year/80,000 miles for the vans.
Clark Contracts finance director John Mooney said that the green fleet review process had been quick, straightforward and potentially very effective, and that he would recommend it to other companies to implement.
“To begin with this is a free review, so there is no cost to the business. It is also very time efficient. We had an initial meeting with the EST, they sent us the first report within four days of that meeting; we then made some modifications and went back to them, and they sent us a final report – all within a three week period.
“Some of their recommendations, such as monitoring driving behaviours, made absolute sense as we have a tracking system in place which allows us to monitor and measure fuel consumption.
“We have also introduced a wider choice of more environmentally friendly models, including the Volkswagen Golf Blue Motion, for drivers to choose. Fleet Alliance has introduced a dedicated driver website where drivers can go online, and select and order their models onscreen from a choice of five different models which should also prove to be very effective.
“Some of the recommendations are less straightforward, such as car sharing, as our staff are constantly on the move and need to be very flexible in their travel arrangements to meet the needs of our customers.
“But overall this has been a very effective process and we have set a number of green targets to achieve by the end of this financial year which we are very confident of achieving,” he said.
Fleet Alliance managing director, Martin Brown, said: “This green fleet review process has been proven to be very effective for a wide array of companies, and we would recommend that any company that wants to reduce its carbon footprint at the same time as cutting operating costs should consider it.
“We firmly believe that the review process can really help a company measure the impact of its current carbon footprint, and come up with a realistic target for lowered carbon emissions that will have both positive financial and environmental benefits,” he said.
21 June 2010
Paisley-based construction, refurbishment, and maintenance specialist, Clark Contracts, has introduced a free green fleet review initiative in conjunction with the Energy Saving Trust (EST) and Fleet Alliance, and as a result has now set a 5% fuel efficiency saving target by the end of October, brought in new ‘green’ models and is suggesting changes in driving behaviours for drivers.
The review, which was recommended by the company’s fleet management provider, Glasgow-based fleet solutions provider Fleet Alliance, involved a face to face meeting with EST officials and detailed analysis of the company’s fleet of 105 vehicles, which includes around 60 light commercial vehicles and 45 cars.
The review showed that there were potentially significant cost savings to be made on the Clark Contracts fleet and looked at a number of areas for possible improvement, including more environmentally aware driving techniques, closer monitoring of driving speeds, car sharing where possible, and making more ‘green’ car options available for drivers.
Clarks Contracts runs of mixed fleet of light commercial vehicles for building workers and tradesmen, and a wide mix of cars for contract managers, surveyors and general managers. The company funds its vehicles through contract hire with three year/60,000 miles contracts for the cars and four year/80,000 miles for the vans.
Clark Contracts finance director John Mooney said that the green fleet review process had been quick, straightforward and potentially very effective, and that he would recommend it to other companies to implement.
“To begin with this is a free review, so there is no cost to the business. It is also very time efficient. We had an initial meeting with the EST, they sent us the first report within four days of that meeting; we then made some modifications and went back to them, and they sent us a final report – all within a three week period.
“Some of their recommendations, such as monitoring driving behaviours, made absolute sense as we have a tracking system in place which allows us to monitor and measure fuel consumption.
“We have also introduced a wider choice of more environmentally friendly models, including the Volkswagen Golf Blue Motion, for drivers to choose. Fleet Alliance has introduced a dedicated driver website where drivers can go online, and select and order their models onscreen from a choice of five different models which should also prove to be very effective.
“Some of the recommendations are less straightforward, such as car sharing, as our staff are constantly on the move and need to be very flexible in their travel arrangements to meet the needs of our customers.
“But overall this has been a very effective process and we have set a number of green targets to achieve by the end of this financial year which we are very confident of achieving,” he said.
Fleet Alliance managing director, Martin Brown, said: “This green fleet review process has been proven to be very effective for a wide array of companies, and we would recommend that any company that wants to reduce its carbon footprint at the same time as cutting operating costs should consider it.
“We firmly believe that the review process can really help a company measure the impact of its current carbon footprint, and come up with a realistic target for lowered carbon emissions that will have both positive financial and environmental benefits,” he said.
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