Ubico's initiatives surrounding their fleet to support the journey to carbon neutral

Background

All of Ubico’s shareholder councils have declared a climate emergency and we are committed to supporting them in reducing carbon emissions.  In 2020 and 2021 we worked on a number of initiatives surrounding our fleet to fulfil our pledge to the environment and support our shareholder partners with their ambitions to become carbon neutral by 2030. 

Challenges

We serve over 200,000 properties in Gloucestershire, delivering services for six different councils in the county. The majority of our services are delivered using vehicles and on a daily basis these vehicles cover a large number of miles, essential to fulfil our everyday operations.

Solution

In 2020 and 2021 our fleet team engaged with industry experts to ensure the vehicles we use are specified to achieve the best possible environmental performance and in 2020 and 2021 we saw both hybrid and electric vehicles added to our fleet. We also worked closely with our partner councils to identify opportunities to incorporate emerging technologies and alternative fuels into the fleet.

Earlier this year we launched a very successful pilot project with drivers of our recently purchased vehicles on our Cotswold District service, encouraging adjustments to driving styles, which reduce fuel usage and carbon emissions. ‘Ubiconnect’ software installed on the vehicles coaches drivers in eco-friendly practices such as reducing idling, harsh accelerating and braking.

We also implemented a new tyre policy and secured a new supply contract meaning tyre life has been extended through a number of measures around improved tyre specifications, installation and management. The new policy also sees appropriate tyres re-worked and repaired where possible, rather than replaced with new. This enables these tyres to safely come back into Ubico’s fleet, saving the high levels of carbon created during the manufacture of a tyre.

Impact

Using the Ubiconnect software has helped us increase operational efficiency, and deliver savings in carbon whilst improving the air quality in the areas that Ubico operates

Using this telematics software on our Cotswold service we saved 8,951 litres of fuel and prevented 22.79 tonnes of carbon being released into the atmosphere from April 2021 to September 2021

The introduction of the new tyre policy in 2020 resulted in cost, environmental and efficiency savings across all of our operations. The improvements in tyre use through the new policy has saved 35.72 tonnes of carbon in 2020/21.

Lessons learned

Through using telematics software on our Cotswold service we have been able to identify areas for improvement leading to more environmentally friendly and safer driving. The recruitment of a Fleet Driver Liaison Manager has meant that we now have a dedicated resource to analyse and evaluate driver behaviour as well as offering drivers the opportunity for coaching and development.

Overall, we will continue to identify carbon reduction activities and targets for the company, and to support our shareholders to meet their carbon reduction ambitions.