GreenFleet

What measures have you undertaken to produce a greener fleet operation?
When we went out to the marketplace to procure our vehicles we specifically left our specifications open enough to encourage greener vehicles to be offered. We also took the approach of evaluating returns on the basis of 60 per cent quality, which could have related to environmental efficiency, and 40 per cent price. In this way price was not the key evaluation criteria.

How did you choose this approach?
We really haven’t modeled ourselves on anyone else. Glasgow City Council has always had a very pro-active approach towards ensuring environmental efficiency within its fleet. Generally speaking, this has always been done in a way that makes good business sense, for example through reduced road fund license, lower fuel costs or high end residual values.

What savings have you made through these changes?
We have evaluated our changes and can demonstrate that not only have we improved environmental standards but we have actually made some significant savings in fleet costs.
    
The next step towards full EV’s or similar may need support from central government through the LCVPP or the LCVDP run through the technology strategy board (TSB), of which Glasgow is a partner.

Who are your key partners and how do you collaborate with them?
Our key partners are our nominated suppliers through our framework agreement. In this case VW for vehicles from the BlueMotion range, DAF and Iveco for Euro 5 trucks.
    
We regularly meet with these suppliers and encourage them to offer new solutions that could further benefit our fleet and indeed help them develop new technologies.
    
Some other manufacturers of hybrid drive units and ‘black box’ technologies have approached Glasgow City Council and are currently trialing equipment on our vehicles. This is at no cost to the council and gives us an excellent opportunity to adopt anything that will improve the fleet efficiency.
    
There needs to be a strong business case as well as environmental benefits before we would consider any big changes.

Can you explain briefly what criteria needs to be met by your suppliers to comply with your framework agreement?
A framework agreement is a method used by local authorities and others to allow them to purchase directly from an agreement set up with suppliers through a full tender process. These agreements only give indicative numbers of vehicles required over the period of the agreement – we don’t have to buy anything over the period if our requirements change. The risk on discounts lies with the suppliers and not based on volumes that need to be achieved by the council.
    
Suppliers are also ranked, so if for example they were to increase their prices over the contract period, they may find that they would move from number 1 supplier to 2 or 3. Price is not the only criteria, any increase would need to be measured against their quality score, which made up 60 per cent of the overall submission.

There is a new EU directive which will force council’s down this route, if they are not already going that way.

What advice could you offer to councils who are starting out on the green fleet process?
Most council’s should have already started the green fleet process, however, I would say that they should look closely at the technologies available and be sure that it will be suitable within the area where they want to use the vehicles – in other words ‘fit for purpose’. They should also check that they have a full support mechanism in place.

What transport awards have you been nominated for?
We are finalists in the National Transport Awards in category – Contribution To Sustainable Transport. We have also entered the Scottish version of this and the Association of Public Sector Excellence (APSE) awards under similar categories – we have still to hear anything back on this.