UK-based baking firm Warburtons has earned the distinction of being Fuel Efficient Operator of the Year in the annual Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme (LCRS) awards after having put in place Mercedes-Benz FleetBoard telematics systems across its fleet of 750 distribution vehicles.
The award was conferred on Warburtons in recognition of its initiative for reducing diesel consumption by more than 8%, a feat that translated into a yearly carbon emission reduction of 1,719 tons.
Warburtons Group Transport Manager Mark Sutcliffe said: "The whole process of conducting an initial evaluation, then rolling the system out, educating drivers and backroom staff in the use of the FleetBoard equipment and its supporting software, monitoring and then working to improve the results, took 15 months of hard work by our teams.
"FleetBoard has given us an accurate picture of driving performance throughout the working day, and how driving style impacts on our fuel consumption.
"We focus on the scoring system, which gives drivers marks out of 100 based only on driving style - mpg is not a factor in this calculation - enabling all drivers to be compared equally regardless of their vehicle or their journey. In this way we were able to 'iron out' differences between individual trucks and routes."
LCRS has been stated to be a free-to-join industry drive by Freight Transport Association to record, report and cut down on carbon emissions.
Warburtons' fleet features 7.5- and 14-ton rigid trucks, capable of making 18,000 deliveries a day from 24 depots across the country.
The firm had undertaken initiatives to reduce its fuel use, with automatic engine cut-off systems and by opting for automatic transmissions.
Image: Warburtons' fleet features 7.5- and 14-ton rigid trucks. Photo: courtesy of Warburtons.
