Name Carey
Business chauffeured services
Size of fleet 100 cars
Brand Mercedes E220 CDI, S350 CDI and Viano
Replacement cycle 2-3 years
Mileage 25,000-35,000 per vehicle
Carbon output 1,000 tonnes (2006); 900 tonnes (end 2009)
CO2 partner The CarbonNeutral Company

Companies can take a range of measures to reduce their fleet carbon emissions. The best (i.e. greenest) one is to reduce mileage travelled. ‘The greenest mile is the one not driven’ the well worn phrase goes.

However, when your business relies on travelling as many miles as possible, any attempt to cut back would be commercial suicide. That was the dilemma faced by Carey, the global executive chauffeur company.

When Carey bosses at the £8 million turnover London operation took the decision in 2006 to do something about their carbon output, they knew they had to take a different approach. Its strategy is called ‘Ecolution’ and it’s becoming a template for Carey offices throughout the world.

The first step, taken in 2006, was to become Carbon Neutral by offsetting CO2 against a range of projects as diverse as reforestation in North Wales and wind farms in Northern India.

Carey works with The CarbonNeutral Company and the beneficiaries change, but it tries to combine UK-based and foreign initiatives.

Greg Mendoza, vice president and general manager at Carey London, says this was the easy bit: “We just had to spend the money, which comes off our bottom line. Reducing our CO2 emissions was more difficult.”

He adds: “The most efficient way to go green is to cut CO2 off at source where it comes out of the car. But we are in the business of doing more mileage. We grew at 20-30% in 2007 and 2008.”

Training was seen as the solution. Mendoza appointed a training manager, Eddie Ofstein, in January 2008 and tasked him with aggregating all the advice on driving styles to create the company’s own programme.

“It’s about thinking differently and is an extension of advanced driving techniques: being defensive and thinking ahead,” Mendoza says.

The programme is based around the principle of allowing the vehicle to keep moving as much as possible – “harsh acceleration is the killer for CO2”, says Mendoza.

It includes advice such as ‘if traffic lights ahead are red, back off and coast up’ and ‘engage your approach to a roundabout so that you enter while still moving’.

Drivers spend a couple of hours in the classroom learning the purpose behind the
programme and the benefits to both the company and to themselves.

Those benefits include health and safety: drivers learn a calmer, more relaxed style which results in less stress – and they reach their destination at the same time.

The practical training is in three stages:
1. Drivers go out on a set route driving normally with the mpg measured.
2. Drivers then go out with the instructor who drives using the new techniques.
3. Drivers then do out and use the techniques themselves, with the mpg measured. Each time they go out they can see the improvements.

Then it’s up to them, although Carey measures their performance via fuel cards.
“It takes practice and patience but it’s all about making progress,” says Mendoza. “On congested roads there is no point in making too quick progress because you will find yourself up the back of a car and stop/starting. Nine-five per cent of our driving is in London traffic so you can pull away as slow as you like and still make the same progress.”

So far, six of Carey’s 100 chauffeurs have been through the training; the rest will complete by the end of the year. It expects to cut CO2 emissions this year by 10% with carbon output falling from 1,000 tonnes in 2006 to 900 tonnes.

Initial findings from the trial group found an average improvement of 12% in fuel consumption, therefore reducing CO2 emissions by the same amount. The biggest improvement was more than 20%.

“You can get to 20-25% improvement but you have to really concentrate,” says Mendoza. “I know because I’ve tried it in my own car.”

Carey spends £35,000-40,000 a month of fuel, so a 10% improvement in efficiency will mean a huge saving. Investment in training makes year one cost neutral; the savings come in year two and are forecast to be £30,000-40,000. It will more than offset the cost of being carbon neutral.

“Our strategy is to continually push forward,” Mendoza says. “At the moment there’s lots of low hanging fruit regarding the size of the improvements. Then it will be down to smaller, incremental improvements by looking at technology and car utilisation.”