As a leading haulage and logistics specialist, at FDC Holdings we are very much aware of our duty to provide a service that does not impact unnecessarily on the environment. Although there is currently no legal requirement for companies to operate an environmental policy, we are constantly reviewing our practices and taking steps to reduce our impact on the environment, as well as looking at ways the logistics industry as a whole can achieve environmental improvements.
Last month we pioneered a new northern distribution hub for The Pallet Network (TPN). This will dramatically cut journey times when delivering pallets which both originate in and are destined for delivery in the north, which will reduce the carbon footprint not just at FDC, but across the entire industry. In addition, because journeys will be shorter, vehicles will also have more opportunity to avoid rush hour, reducing congestion and road safety risks.
Another potential benefit to the environment is that the northern base could offer a platform to broker successful engagement between industry, Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities on ways we can implement further measures which support the use of low emission practices and technologies, in a way that is a minimal burden to the industry.
Economically, the hub provides great scope for more inter-regional growth and is another way we’re putting Lancashire on the map. We anticipate that it will only increase the demand for haulage and transportation in the region as more and more organisations begin to use the hub.
We have also recently made a £765,000 investment into nine new Scania vehicles. The reason for this investment was that these vehicles use the new Euro 6 engines, as opposed to the older Euro 5 engines. Euro 6 engines match Euro 5 in terms of fuel consumption but combine innovative technical solutions to radically cut emissions.
Freight and logistics makes up a significant proportion of transport greenhouse gas emissions but we can play our part at FDC by increasing fuel efficiencies and cutting emissions where possible. We think it is worth the investment and the effort.