BT Fleet drives efficiency savings with new vans

Leading fleet management specialist, BT Fleet, has developed a range of compact cabling vehicles for Openreach, part of BT Group, to deliver CO2 emission savings of 65 per cent, a trebling of MPG and an in-life cost reduction of a massive £1,000 per month per vehicle.

A review and re-design focused on optimising vehicle performance and looked at many factors including drivetrain, payload, racking, fuel efficiency, safety and driver ergonomics. Following this, BT Fleet introduced compact vans based on recycled LCVs rather than traditional models built on a HGV chassis. The vans offer operational flexibility with no loss of payload and improved fuel consumption and emissions without compromising performance.

Duncan Webb, commercial director at BT Fleet, said: “We have a proven track record of developing innovative engineering solutions across all aspects of the business, especially for vans. The review has provided us with vehicles that are more cost-effective and efficient, require less servicing and are cheaper to run than traditional models. Lead times are also drastically reduced – vehicles can be ready in three months instead of the usual nine. It’s a significant milestone for us and is part of a wider review of our fleet.”

BT Fleet has worked closely with Openreach, on developing the vans. The team was able to save six months by selecting the new compact model instead of like-for-like vehicles and 229 vehicles were on the road in just 12 weeks.

Dave Edwards, national fleet manager at Openreach, said: “The new compact cabling model has revolutionised our approach and paid dividends. Vehicles now only need servicing annually whereas the previous models were off the road four times a year. This means we can keep our engineers on the road and keep the UK connected. The move to LCVs has also increased flexibility as only a standard driving licence is required. Best of all, CO2 output from the vans was reduced by 65 per cent – that’s 1,200 tonnes. MPG was also trebled and the in-life cost to us was reduced by a massive £1,000 per month per vehicle. It’s a great example of BT’s commitment to help all its customers save energy and we haven’t looked back.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

About BT Fleet

BT Fleet is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BT Group, providing award-winning fleet management, vehicle maintenance and accident management to some of the country’s most recognisable businesses. The business specialises in mission-critical fleets, with a reputation for service quality, technical excellence and resilience.

BT Fleet manages more than 78,000 vehicles from the UK’s largest one-stop-shop garage network dedicated to operational fleets.

For more information visit www.btfleet.com