Name Courier Systems
Joint MDs Ian Oliver, Carl Truscott
Service centre and fleet manager Graeme Fraser
Fleet size 120 vans, 80 motorcycles, xx pushbikes
Replacement cycle 4-5 years (normal)
Badges vans - ; motorcycles – Honda 500cc

While many of the environmental plaudits go to the larger companies, like Sainsbury’s with its huge electric vehicle trials, the real lead is often taken by the smaller, more flexible private organisations.

Take Courier Systems, the London-based courier. It first decided that green was the future back in 2001 when it acquired its first LPG vans.

The company was at the vanguard of the alternative fuels crusade and admits to being something of a guinea-pig for its two suppliers, Renault and Citroen.

“Back then we didn’t know anything about the environment, but we thought we should look at it,” says joint managing director Carl Truscott. “As a private company was have the flexibility to look at new innovations and we recognised that LPG was cheaper, which would benefit our drivers. We were the largest guinea-pig that Renault and Citroen had.”

It was a brave decision to go heavily into LPG – back then few forecourts stocked the fuel and little was known about its properties, such as reliability and running costs. Courier had to produce a list of suppliers to ensure drivers knew where to go.

It now has 100 LPG vans out of a fleet of 120 and will buy a further 20-25 in the coming months. All are on outright purchase.

Opinions remain mixed on LPG, with many fleets shying away since the Government dropped the Powershift subsidy. Others have described trials as an unmitigated disaster but Truscott is firmly committed to LPG, which he says offers a 10-15% cut in CO2 emissions over petrol.

“The vans also cost less to repair than diesel and they are cheaper to run,” he says.
Courier runs its own workshop, headed by service centre and fleet manager Graeme Fraser, who has the facts to back up Truscott’s claims.

The newer LPG Renault Kangoos cost on average 1.13p per mile for service, maintenance and repair, Fraser says, compared to 18.64p for Courier’s diesel Kangoo vans. Even the older LPG vans, typically four to five years old cost just 2.5ppm. Vehicles are serviced every 10,000 miles.

“We used to change our vans at four to five years but we have drifted past that because we are waiting for Renault’s new LPG engine to come to market,” says Truscott. “We have some vehicles on 51-plates that have done 250,000 miles but they still run, even if they cost a bit more.”

Courier also runs 80 motorcycles on its fleet. It recently switched the fleet from 850cc BMWs to 500cc Hondas which are lighter, more economical, easier to repair, have lower CO2 and reduce fuel consumption by 20%.

It trialled a couple of electric motorcycles, but found them to be slow with a ‘spongy’ chassis. It has also shunned electric vans, pointing out that it can buy two LPG vans for the cost of one electric van.

“They are fit for purpose yet. We won’t do something just to tick a box,” says Truscott. “And the electric bikes were dangerous.”

He has decided to trial a biodiesel van on a 50-50 mix of refined cooking oil and will add further models if it is successful. So far the reports are positive.

The whole company ethos centres on being environmentally aware. Courier employs two people to drive the green strategy - Alexandros Germanis, environmental development manager and Eduardo Plastino, CSR (corporate social responsibility) manager. They work closely with Renault on its LPG research and also developed the carbon neutral programme.

Since 2007, it has been a CarbonNeutral Company, while earlier this year it joined the London Green 500 scheme to help it implement constant improvements to its environmental initiatives.

“We have also been a bronze member of FORS – the Freight Operator Recognition Scheme set up by Transport for London – since January and we are working towards silver,” says Plastino.

“Our clients ask about road safety and our environmental credentials during tenders and we can prove to them that we are addressing those issues.”

This year it is introducing driving behaviour into its recruitment scheme, expecting it to reduce fuel consumption between 4-10%.

Courier added pushbikes to the fleet a couple of years ago for shorter journeys and has seen their usage soar. Around 16% of all jobs – 30,000 per quarter – are now carried out via pushbike.

The green philosophy very much comes from the top down. The directors have set the example by replacing their gas guzzlers for sub 160g/km cars. Truscott has a VW Passat while company founder Ian Oliver drives a Ford Focus.

It’s not what you expect from the owner of a £14 million turnover business, but it underlines his commitment to the green cause.

A carbon commitment
Through the CarbonNeutral Company, Courier Systems committed to seven projects to help reduce its net emissions to zero.

• Agricultural methane capture via ARA Carbon Finance in Germany
• Sterksel biogas project via ARA Carbon Finance in The Netherlands
• Reforestation of Carrifran Wildwood in Dumfries, Scotland
• Energy efficient lighting with the Caribbean Tourism Board
• Kotmar waste heat recovery project via In Synergy in India
• Sebenoba-Karakurt wind power project in Turkey
• New Zealand wind power generation with Meridian Energy

“We offset the equivalent amount of CO2 produced by the delivery of each consignment,” says Carl Truscott. “This is true for every consignment and is at no additional cost to our clients.”