Competitor Watch
Parcel delivery company Yodel is investing more than £15m in its fleet in a drive to reduce the environmental impact of its road-based operations.
The investment includes technology to improve efficiency and safety, and new vehicles and trailers, including the first all-electric 7.5 tonne light-duty truck in their fleet.
The Mitsubishi FUSO eCanter will initially be based at Yodel’s customer delivery depot in Hayes, and used across London. Silent and emission-free, the state-of-the-art vehicle has a load capacity of up to four and half tonnes and is powered by six high voltage batteries.
Optimising driver performance and safety
Yodel have also invested in Microlise technology for all of their 1,300 odd tractor units and trailers. The software monitors factors such as speed, location, and road traffic levels and reports back to Yodel’s state-of-the-art business control tower, allowing the team to view the network in real-time and adapt to dynamic conditions.
Microlise’s Android-based DriveTab tablet devices act as the main interface for driver communication and navigation. Journeys can be planned and monitored by the business control tower and instructions sent to the driver, while driving style can be evaluated and feedback provided to optimise driver performance.
Yodel has already seen a 7% improvement in fuel efficiency since the introduction of the technology. As part of its ongoing commitment to ensure the safety of its drivers and other road users, Yodel has fitted every tractor unit with a Microlise panic button, enabling drivers to alert the business control tower of an emergency. The company is also trialling a number of dashboard camera systems for its tractor units, to aid incident investigation.
As part of our own commitment to reduce our environmental impact, we have deployed 100 electric vans in 17 delivery offices across the UK. We are also using electric vehicle technology for larger commercial vehicles to move mail within our network. Royal Mail is part of a small group of UK businesses to use a sizeable number of electric vehicles in its main operation.
