TNT Express has unveiled new investment in its British fleet after beating emission reductiontargets, and has also won a new contract.
TNT Express Services, the leading domestic B2B express carrier, plans to spend about £20 million(€23 million) on replenishing and upgrading up to 600 vehicles and trailers to help meet stringentnew environmental controls. The investment would help TNT address the needs of London’s LowEmission Zone (LEZ) when new ‘green’ regulations come into force at the beginning of 2012,requiring all vehicles of 3.5 tonnes or above to comply with Euro 4 emission legislation.
Simon Harper, Operations Director, said: “We are shaping our fleet to reflect our changingmarkets and our ongoing drive to reduce our carbon footprint. We are on track to achieve ourstrategic environmental goal of a 40% improvement in our CO2 efficiency between 2007 and 2020.Ensuring we make the necessary investment to meet the criteria of the LEZ makes both economic aswell as environmental sense.”
The company is optimising its proposed spend to encompass the purchase of a significant numberof 5 tonne vehicles in a radical departure from its traditional 7.5 tonne pick up and delivery(PUD) vehicle. “The move to using a more balanced range of PUD vehicles reflects increasingactivity in the business-to-consumer element in our delivery schedules,” Harper explained.
Aerodynamics will also be the order of the day with TNT moving exclusively to a curvier model ofCheetah Trailer, as it continues its ongoing programme of taking 10-year old trailers out ofservice. Steve Davis, National Engineering Manager, said the new curvaceous approach would help TNTclock up some attractive figures on fuel savings and CO? emissions. “On average the new trailersare something like 3% more efficient than a conventional version and that equates to approximately£1,500 per vehicle.”
Last year TNT Express, with more than 90 locations around the UK & Ireland and a commercialfleet well in excess of 3,000 vehicles, beat its own carbon reduction targets for a third year in arow.
Meanwhile, the company has won a new contract for international distribution to Europe forelectronics and maintenance parts giant RS Components as part of a multi-million pound pan-Europeancontract. The two-year deal includes deliveries from the UK to France, domestic deliveries withinItaly, France and smaller traffic flows to Norway and Eastern European countries. TNT ExpressServices UK & Ireland will distribute from a portfolio of over 500,000 products ranging fromsemiconductors and optoelectronics to power tools and protective clothing to RS customers whoinclude electronics design engineers, research and development or maintenance engineers.
Eddie Calland, TNT’s General Manager Industrial, said: “This is a significant contract for TNT.Our brand and performance were the big drivers in securing the deal which shows the type ofbusinesses that we want to be associated with. RS, the world’s largest supplier of electronics andmaintenance products, recognised that we really understand their business needs and they aregetting the best service possible.”
Under the deal, brokered by a pan-European team, TNT also won and retained the contract fordomestic deliveries within Italy and France respectively and won new international traffic flowsfrom Germany to Eastern Europe. Outside the tender process, TNT also won smaller contracts todeliver goods to Norway, Greece and Eastern Europe.
RS Global Freight Manager, Philip Ferry, explained why TNT proved the best partner, saying: “TNTshares our philosophy for high quality service delivery to our customers and this new contractbuilds on an already strong and positive relationship we have with TNT.”
The new contract reflects TNT’s ambitions to leverage its international and domestic parcelnetworks across Europe. Joris Oudenhuijzen, Global Industry Director Electronics, TNT Express,said: “We are proud to help RS deliver their products quickly and efficiently. Online salesrepresent close to one-half of their revenues. This calls for very flexible and fast transportservices. TNT put forward its domestic capabilities in France and Italy and strong air connectivitywith the UK.”
