Welcome
Achieving the UK government’s challenging carbon-reduction targets for road freight transport will require collaboration on an unprecedented scale. This year’s Decarbonisation Power Players are a blend of the governmental, operational and supply side players who will need to work together to deliver these goals. It also re ects the important role that low-carbon fuels can play in cutting emissions now while electri cation gains momentum.
Cutting carbon emissions is not just an abstract concept – every week there are new and often terrible examples of the devastation climate change is wreaking. While there remain many obstacles to weaning an industry and an entire economy o fossil fuels, it is the most important challenge facing our generation.
The government is playing its part with a £140m pot of money for operators to demonstrate battery and hydrogen trucks, part of a £200m, three-year comparative Zero Emission Road Freight (ZERFT) Demonstration programme to support the end of sales of all new, non-zero emission HGVs by 2040.
While most of the Power Players are operators – as they are at the sharp end of keeping us supplied with everything we use every day while cutting emissions – they need the support of the vehicle OEMs and think tanks which are also represented. Motor Transport salutes you all.
CONTENTS
4
Net-zero heroes
Motor Transport’s Decarbonisation Power Players are the industry influencers who are leading the drive towards a carbon-free transportation future
5 Meet the judges
Catherine Bowen, BVRLA; Andy Eastlake, Zemo Partnership; Justin Laney, John Lewis; Andy Salter, DVV Media International
6 Number 1
Olly Craughan Head of sustainability, DPD
8 Numbers 2 and 3
Peter Harris VP, international sustainability, UPS
Rob Fowler Fleet director, Royal Mail
9 Numbers 4 and 5
10
Bob Moran Deputy director, decarbonisation strategy, Department for Transport
Philip Fjeld CEO, CNG Fuels
MT Decarbonisation Power Players A-Z
Tutu Akinkoye GoGreen lead, DHL Supply Chain
Asher Bennett CEO, Tevva Motors
David Cebon Professor, Centre for Sustainable Road Freight
Sam Clarke Chief vehicle officer, Gridserve
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Gary Clark Director of fleet, Veolia
Ben Garner Senior manager, logistics development, Tarmac
Rob Gwynn Policy and public affairs manager, Volta Trucks
Norman Harding Corporate fleet manager, London Borough of Hackney
12
Motor Transport editor Steve Hobson
Contributors Andy Salter, Hayley Tayler
Production editor David Jones
2023
Media International Ltd
Printed by Newman Thomson
13
David Horsfall Director, Tyseley Energy Park
David Landy Head of fleet, Evri
Ashley McCulla Chairman, McCulla (Ireland)
Tanya Neech Head of sustainability, Scania UK
Tom Parker Head of EU on-road policy, Amazon
Dan Saunders Head of fleet, Travis Perkins
Andrew Scott Head of electric mobility and product development, Renault Trucks
John Stephens General manager logistics,Grundon
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Tony Stuart Head of logistics operations support, Hovis
William Tebbit CEO,Green Biofuels
Graham Thomas Fleet Operations Manager, Ocado
John Williams Group chairman, Maritime Transport
MOTOR TRANSPORT / DECARBONISATION POWER PLAYERS 3
Steve Hobson Editor, Motor Transport, DVV Media International
motortransport.co.uk
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Published by DVV Media International Ltd, First Floor, Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1JB
In association with 2023
The judging panel
Our MT Decarbonisation Power Players 2023 shortlist was shaped by a panel of experienced, industry professionals, each of whom was able to bring their own valuable insight into the judging process.
Catherine
Bowen Senior policy adviser BVRLA
Catherine Bowen joined the BVRLA as senior policy adviser in 2019. She leads the association’s work on Decarbonisation and Future Mobility, with a keen focus on EV charging infrastructure and how we best support the transition of commercial vehicles.
She has worked in senior policy roles for more than 16 years and has experience of working within private, public sector and not-for-profit organisations.
Before joining the BVRLA, she worked for the British Retail Consortium, where she held the post of Head of Crime and Security policy.
Andy Eastlake Chief executive Zemo Partnership
Andy Eastlake was a founding member of the Zemo Partnership in 2003. After serving both on the board and as chair of the members council for many years, he was appointed as MD in April 2012 and became chief executive in June 2021.
He was formerly group head of commercial and projects at Millbrook Proving Ground, where he was responsible for all the laboratories and commercial activity and led the work on powertrain test and development programmes and alternative fuels for a variety of global OEM customers.
Andy built his career in vehicle engineering, focusing on developing new test methods specialising in powertrain development, fuel economy and emissions.
He has supported many innovation activities in an advisory role including the creation of CENEX in 2005 and the APC in 2013. Andy is a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Justin Laney Partner and general manager, transport John Lewis
Justin Laney manages the John Lewis Partnership fleet of 4,500 commercial vehicles and 1,000 cars. The fleet is recognised for leading in innovation and has reduced its diesel consumption by 40% through efficiency measures and alternative fuels.
Headline commitments include running all heavy-duty trucks on biomethane by 2028, being free of fossil fuels by 2030 and achieving a zero-carbon fleet by 2035.
Justin’s career started with London Transport (Buses), having obtained a BEng at Liverpool University. He also worked at UPS for 20 years, managing fleets in EMEA as well as the UK.
He is a chartered engineer, fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a director of the Zemo Partnership, and chair of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (SRF) industrial committee.
Justin has won numerous awards, mainly for fleet sustainability, including being MT’s Decarbonisation Power Player for 2022.
Andy Salter MD DVV Media International and Freight Carbon Zero
Andy Salter has spent most of his 30-year working life in and around the commercial vehicle and road freight sector, building up a depth of knowledge and expertise. A former editor of TRUCK and Commercial Motor magazines, Andy is a previous chair of the International Truck of the Year jury and is now managing director of DVV Media International, the owner of Freight Carbon Zero.
He is passionate about helping the industry prepare for a carbon-zero future.
MOTOR TRANSPORT / DECARBONISATION POWER PLAYERS 5
Head of sustainability DPD
THE ENVIRONMENTALIST:
As head of sustainability, Olly Craughan leads DPD’s drive towards net-zero emissions
Aserial winner of the Urban Operator of the Year and Clean Fleet Van Operator of the Year at the Motor Transport Awards, DPDgroup’s stated mission is to be the world’s most sustainable delivery company.
“The green focus is totally embedded within the DPD corporate culture,” noted one of the judges of last year’s awards.
DPD’s parent, GeoPost – part of French postal service La Poste – is the only global parcel carrier to have committed to achieving Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, and the UK business expects to beat that deadline.
After a decade with parcels delivery leader DPD, Olly Craughan took on the new role of head of sustainability in November 2021. Working closely with director of sustainability Tim Jones, it is his job to deliver that net-zero mission.
He said: “We have annual total carbon emissions reduction targets – not CO2 per parcel – and have a near-term net-zero target of 2030. This means we have to reduce our total emissions by 43%, using a baseline of 2020.
“We continue to reduce our emissions, both in total as well as per parcel. In 2022 we reduced our total emissions by more than 60,000 tonnes year on year.”
The company’s laser-like focus on reducing its impact on the environment has not been at the
expense of customer service or profitability. DPD claims the top slot in UK B2C parcel delivery and has doubled its turnover since 2016 to more than £2bn. Its 20,000-strong team delivers more than 400 million parcels a year for 7,500 customers.
In 2020 DPD launched its green vision, with plans to deliver on all-electric vehicles in 25 UK towns and cities by 2025. In 2021 it extended this commitment to all-electric deliveries in 30 UK cities by the end of 2023; five more cities, two years earlier than planned.
It has already decarbonised all deliveries in Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Hull, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Reading, Southampton and Stoke and has plans to add 20 more towns and cities – including London, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh – to that list by the end of 2023. By then, it will have 4,000 all-electric vehicles on the road, which will be 40% of DPD’s entire lastmile fleet.
Carbon saving
Craughan said: “Expanding our intelligent final-mile, all-electric urban depot network has contributed enormously to our emissions reduction, and with our urban depots in total we delivered an incredible 78,800kg saving of CO2 in 2021.”
The carrier is not charging its customers more for electric deliveries and, while the total cost of
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1
Olly Craughan
operation of electric vehicles can be lower than diesel over the lifetime of the vehicle, it is absorbing the higher upfront costs of buying electric vans. It has not bought a last-mile diesel vehicle since summer 2020 and does not intend to buy diesel again – the only carrier to make this commitment.
DPD has nine different types of all-electric vehicle in its fleet, reflecting its commitment to trialling new models in its search for robust lastmile EV solutions. DPD invested in micro-vehicles from specialist Norwegian manufacturer Paxster and was the first company to import this last-mile vehicle. In 2021 it placed orders of just over £50m with SAIC Motor, the largest EV maker in China, for 750 Maxus eDeliver 9 vehicles and 500 Maxus eDeliver 3 electric vans.
Range focus
“MAN was the first 3.5-tonne EV we ordered back in January 2020, when we had 100 vehicles shipped over,” Craughan said. “We then moved to the Maxus and now to the Ford E-Transit. It is about the range of the vehicle, because we need to think about not only the route mileage but also about the driver getting from home and back.”
DPD has recently completed a series of engineering tests with the full-electric Volta Zero, as part of wider beta trials for the 16-tonne vehicle.
With more than 28% of the final-mile delivery fleet all-electric, charging infrastructure has become the biggest hurdle to speeding up the roll-out of battery electric vans. For drivers who cannot charge at depots, DPD is contributing £350 to each home charger installed by its charging partner, PodPoint.
Reducing carbon emissions also has to involve the trucks that transport parcels between the depots and five national sortation hubs. DPD has switched most of its trunking fleet to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a low-carbon, drop-in replacement for Derv that produces 90% less pollution than diesel.
Produced from sustainable sources such as waste vegetable oil, it ticks every box – except that it is more expensive than diesel.
La Poste agreed to make the investment to switch 60% of the transport fleet to HVO in 2022. DPD has signed supply contracts that will enable it to switch 100% of the fleet by the end of 2023, avoiding 120,000kg of CO2 emissions.
The message matters
That means the transport fleet will cut its carbon emissions faster than the C&D fleet – which will be only 40% electrified by the end of 2023, despite the rapid roll-out of electric vans.
DPD’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 is meant to send a signal to customers and to the wider logistics industry.
Craughan said: “It’s important for us to blaze a trail for others to follow to ensure there is a sense of urgency from everyone in this industry, not just DPD.
“It is extremely important to us to reduce our impact on the planet to provide a brighter future for future generations, our customers and their consumers.
“Our customers (shippers and shoppers alike) want us to move as quickly as possible towards net zero and this is an important point of difference for us in the market. This in turn does help us win new business.
“So far, we have invested more than £100m in procuring all-electric vehicles that have been deployed throughout the UK, predominantly in our Vision 30 towns and cities, to reduce emissions and improve air quality in those densely populated areas.
“In Q4 2022 we transitioned our long-distance fleet based at our East Midlands hubs in Hinckley, Leicestershire to HVO. This is a huge step in decarbonising our long-distance vehicles in the short to medium term, without the need to change vehicle or infrastructure. However, this is still a significant investment that equates to over £8m more than if we were still using diesel.
“We continue to invest in renewable electricity and self-generated renewable solutions, mainly through our growing network of solar PV at our sites, with excess electricity being fed back to the National Grid. We have a 100% landfill avoidance waste strategy and achieve 90% reuse and recycle of our overall waste. This is managed extremely closely with our supplier, Veolia, and we continue to develop solutions to avoid and reduce our waste.
Biodiversity projects
“Finally, we believe in supporting biodiversity and have supported numerous projects including Forest England tree planting, WWF Seagrass planting, TreeApp tree planting, Woodmor Beekeeping project, and the RSPB wetland restoration project.
“Being named number one Decarbonisation Power Player is great news and represents independent recognition of the great progress made by the whole company in recent years.”
CLEAN MACHINES:
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By the end of 2023, 40% of DPD’s entire last-mile fleet will be all-electric vehicles
“We have a 100% landfill avoidance waste strategy and achieve 90% reuse and recycle of our overall waste”
3
Peter Harris VP,
international sustainability UPS
2Peter Harris is the vice-president for international sustainability at UPS, one of the world’s largest shipping and logistics companies. He has 33 years of experience working for UPS and has been leading its e orts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the environmental impact of its operations.
UPS has announced its aim to achieve carbon neutrality in all its global operations by 2050 and to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% per parcel delivered by 2035. To reach these goals, UPS has been investing in powering its fleet with alternative fuels for more than 20 years and currently operates more than 13,300 vehicles running on non-conventional fuels.
An active board member and chair of the commercial vehicle working group at Zemo Partnership, Harris has a detailed understanding of the journey to carbon-zero for fleet operations. He believes that different fuels are suitable for different types of operations. For urban transport, he advocates using fully electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, as well as four-wheeled electric-assist cycles. For overnight operations between UPS facilities, he supports using renewable natural gas, which is up to 80% more carbon efficient than conventional fuel.
Harris was commended by the judges for his unswerving commitment to the decarbonisation of the industry, both in driving UPS’s transition to a more sustainable logistics model and in representing the industry in front of politicians and legislators. He is also open to bridging solutions that can help the sector reduce its carbon footprint while waiting for more advanced technologies to become available.
Rob Fowler Fleet director Royal Mail
As fleet director at Royal Mail, Rob Fowler is responsible for driving the decarbonisation of the UK’s biggest fleet of commercial vehicles. The company runs more than 50,000 vehicles and has recently announced a series of investments shifting the company car fleet away from fossil fuels and commencing the transition of the 40,000-strong delivery-van fleet to electric –more than 10% of which is now completed – which will drive a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions per parcel delivered.
Royal Mail has invested more than £12m in depot-based charging, is trialling the use of micro electric vehicles across the UK and has commenced EV truck trials in the London area.
Formerly CEO at electric truck producer Volta, and before that at DPD, Fowler has a powerful track record in the decarbonisation of the sector. Over the past 12 months, he has been speaking at conferences and other events, promoting the work of Royal Mail and clearly demonstrating his position at the forefront of the shift to a carbon-zero future.
“Royal Mail is certainly making good progress, using gas trucks and a large number of electric vans, and has a lot of influence due to its enormous scale,” one of the judges commented. “Rob is clearly demonstrating his impact and influence to accelerate that transition.”
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Bob Moran
Deputy director, decarbonisation strategy Department for Transport
With a strong professional vehicle engineering background, Bob Moran has the ideal credentials to ensure the DfT’s decarbonisation strategy supports the government’s wider net-zero ambition and works for those on the front line of industry. With a 19-year career at the DfT, Moran’s work experience has seen him first focus on safety and roadworthiness through to pioneering work at the Office for Low Emission Vehicles – a cross-government policy unit working to position the UK as a global leader in the design, development, manufacture and deployment of zero-emission vehicles and associated technologies. He is now leading a team on the delivery of the government’s vehicle decarbonisation strategy.
The judges said: “When it comes to influence in this space in terms of policy-making, setting the agenda and phase-out dates, a lot of that sits with Bob Moran.
“He is also very active in promoting the agenda and driving it forward. He has a genuine interest and asks lots of questions and has been looking to devise a strategy that recognises the challenge.
“There is probably nothing bigger in this sector than the challenge of zero-emission trucks by 2035/40 and Bob is the champion of this within DfT.”
5 Philip Fjeld CEO CNG Fuels
Philip Fjeld heads up CNG Fuels, which develops, owns, and operates CNG refuelling infrastructure and sources 100% renewable biomethane (Bio-CNG) for its stations.
The business aims to create a UK-wide network of reliable and convenient refuelling facilities to supply HGV operators. It recently opened the world’s largest biomethane station, capable of refuelling up to 80 trucks per hour.
Its Bio-CNG is 100% sourced from waste products, including food, animal waste, and waste water and is independently verified and approved by the DfT’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).
CNG Fuels works closely with industry in developing its infrastructure on key routes for major operators. As a result, HGV operators are gaining confidence in making the switch to renewable gas-powered vehicles to tap into their decarbonisation and air quality benefits.
Well-known firms such as Amazon, Royal Mail and John Lewis Partnership have committed to using Bio-CNG in their fleets.
Fjeld, alongside colleague Baden Gowrie-Smith, CFO of CNG Fuels, will also soon be trialling hydrogen refuelling at gas sites under a new company arm called Hyfuels, which aims to help customers adopt hydrogen quickly and easily when it becomes commercially viable.
The judges said: “CNG Fuels are building a large number of very large biomethane filling stations and are the market leaders in that in the UK – and Fjeld has been one of the enablers for this. They are also talking about in the future offering hydrogen if people want that. He is also active in lobbying for planning changes and policy changes.”
MOTOR TRANSPORT / DECARBONISATION POWER PLAYERS 9
Tutu Akinkoye GoGreen lead DHL Supply Chain
Tutu Akinkoye has worked for DHL Supply Chain for 12 years and is responsible for delivering the UK and Ireland’s share of Deutsche Post DHL Group’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to below 29 million tonnes by 2030 – and to be net-zero by 2050.
Ground transport accounts for 21% of the group’s total carbon emissions. The company is investing €7bn to deliver climate-neutral technology by 2030 in initiatives such as switching to sustainable fuels, electrification of the last mile delivery and building climate-neutral logistics sites and warehouses.
The UK and Ireland fleet recently saw the arrival of 13 more new Volvo FH LNG tractor units that will deliver up to 80% reductions in carbon emissions when fuelled with bioLNG and up to 20% with fossil gas. It aims to have more than 500 gas vehicles in operation across the fleet by 2025.
Asher Bennett CEO Tevva Motors
Asher Bennett is the founder and CEO of Tevva Motors, a UK-based company that designs and manufactures electric trucks for urban environments. He is also the co-founder of NT-TAO, an Israeli nuclear fusion company. He has more than 20 years of experience in engineering and entrepreneurship, in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, defence and energy. He started his career as an Israeli submarine officer, where he gained valuable insights into battery management. He then founded Evida, a developer of EV lithium-ion battery packs, which later pivoted to Tevva. He has an MBA from IMD, Switzerland and graduated first in class from the Israeli Naval Academy. He is passionate about sustainability and has a vision of creating zero-emission transport solutions.
David Cebon Professor Centre for Sustainable Road Freight
David Cebon is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is the director of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight, a public-private partnership that aims to reduce the environmental impact of road freight transport. He is also the director of the Cambridge Vehicle Dynamics Consortium, a research group that focuses on heavy-vehicle dynamics, safety and fuel efficiency. He has more than 30 years of experience in road transport engineering, covering topics such as vehicle-road interaction, suspension design, asphalt micromechanics, weigh-in-motion technology and hydrogen fuel cells. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and several books on these subjects. He has also advised the UK government and the EU on transport policy and regulation. He holds a BE from the University of Melbourne and a PhD from Cambridge.
Sam Clarke Chief vehicle officer Gridserve
Sam Clarke is well-known for his commitment to sustainable transport – and, in particular, his knowledge of EVs. In 2009 he founded green logistics operator Gnewt Cargo (acquired in 2017 by Menzies Distribution) and created the UK’s largest fully electric commercial fleet, the largest privately owned smart charging infrastructure and the UK’s most advanced private V2G network. He now leads the transport arm at sustainable energy firm Gridserve. His role is to drive forward mass uptake of electric vehicles through the creation of a net-zero EV leasing division and commercial charging infrastructure and to support the nationwide network roll-out of high-powered electric forecourts as well as the upgrade of the ‘Electric Highway’ service station network.
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Gary Clark Director of fleet Veolia
Veolia’s fleet includes a diverse range of vehicles that manage waste collection, loading, demolition, liquid handling and construction. Under Gary Clark’s lead, the business has been innovating with alternative fuels for almost a decade and now has nearly 200 fully electric vehicles. They include the fully electric collection fleet servicing the City of London and the West End. Veolia is also helping Westminster City Council rapidly take steps to electrify all recycling and street cleansing operations, introducing innovative e-trikes and other such vehicles.
Ben Garner Senior manager, logistics development Tarmac
Ben Garner’s role is to bring new technology and innovation into the business, with a 2,500-strong fleet. He has recently collaborated with Renault Trucks and TVS Interfleet McPhee Mixers to develop the UK’s first e-mixer truck, with an ambition to eventually introduce zero-emission vehicles across all Tarmac’s urban sites. As the company also generates all its site power from renewable sources, the e-mixer can therefore become a carbon-neutral solution. Tarmac has taken the EV100 pledge, which will see it switching its entire car and van fleet to electric by 2030. Garner has also led trials into low-carbon fuels, such as HVO, across the fleet.
Rob Gwynn Policy and public affairs manager Volta Trucks
Rob Gwynn is the policy and public affairs manager at Volta Trucks, the start-up electric truck manufacturer. He is responsible for developing and implementing lobbying campaigns and stakeholder engagement strategies to support the company’s vision of creating safer and more sustainable cities. He has more than six years of experience in the transport and logistics sector, working in various roles such as public affairs manager, external affairs officer and operations graduate at Hermes. He has a keen interest in the environment and responsible business and has participated in several industry events and initiatives related to low-carbon transport and electromobility. He holds a BA (Hons) in Business Management from Nottingham Trent University.
Norman Harding Corporate fleet manager London Borough of Hackney
Norman Harding is the Corporate Fleet Manager at the London Borough of Hackney, where he oversees a fleet of more than 500 vehicles and 850 drivers. He is responsible for ensuring legal compliance, cost efficiency, safety and environmental sustainability of the council’s transport services. He has more than 15 years of experience in senior transport management roles, predominantly within the local authority environment. He has a strong track record of innovation and leadership, implementing alternative fuels such as biodiesel, electric and hydrogen vehicles, and collaborating with various industry partners and stakeholders. He is also the chair of ALTO, a network of London local authority transport managers, and the chair of the Logistics UK Greater London Freight Council. He holds a qualification in vehicle maintenance and repair from Cullompton College and is a member of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers.
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David Horsfall Director Tyseley Energy Park
David Horsfall is passionate in his drive to provide the necessary infrastructure to help fleet operators reduce vehicle emissions in the City of Birmingham. He is a director at the Tyseley Energy Park (TEP) project in Birmingham – the UK’s first multi-fuel, open access, low- and zero-carbon refuelling facility for both private and commercial fleets. Offering hydrogen, compressed natural gas, biodiesel and electrical vehicle charging options, the unmanned facility is available 24/7 for refuelling with integrated pay-at-pump options that accept credit, debit and fuel card payments. To get TEP up and running, Horsfall has worked collaboratively with experts from academia, government and industry.
David Landy Head of fleet Evri
Evri already has the lowest carbon emissions of any dedicated parcel delivery company. One of its company targets for this year is to introduce alternative zero-emission transport methods for final-mile deliveries.
Evri has partnered with Zedify and Urb-it to provide 100% carbon-free deliveries in the Bristol clean air zone (CAZ).
They are just two of a number of sustainable delivery models that Evri is partnering with to support its commitment to becoming the UK’s most sustainable delivery business.
Landy is also using Green D+ HVO for the local HGV fleet at its Brooklands depot in Surrey, a renewable drop-in replacement for diesel that cuts emissions by up to 90%.
Evri was already using CNG-powered trucks for its first mile, client collections and trunking but the “middle mile” has been the tricky one to decarbonise. It has trialled the 12-tonne CNG vehicles as well as electric vehicles, but says Green D+ is ideal to fill that gap.
Ashley
McCulla Chairman McCulla (Ireland)
McCulla (Ireland) has launched a waste-to-energy circular economy at its premises, which it hopes will encourage other transport operators to have confidence in the use of renewable energy. The company invested in an anaerobic digester plant at its headquarters, which enables it to produce all its own energy without requiring any grid electricity. The plant converts food waste into renewable electricity to power McCulla’s cold stores and bio-methane gas to power its initial batch of Iveco Stralis NP trucks. The company aims to be running its entire fleet of 100-plus trucks on gas using the sustainable transport model within five years to eliminate its reliance on fossil fuels.
Tanya Neech Head of sustainability Scania UK
Tanya Neech is the head of sustainability at Scania UK, where she oversees the development and implementation of sustainability policies and goals for the company’s truck, bus, coach and power operations. She is also a board member of Zemo Partnership. Tanya has more than 10 years of experience in the transport sector, working in various roles such as transport manager, driver trainer and coach operator. She holds a foundation certificate in environmental management from the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment and a PCV driving licence. She is passionate about driving the shift to a more sustainable transport system.
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Tom Parker Head of EU on-road policy Amazon
Tom Parker is the head of EU on-road policy at Amazon, where he oversees the development and implementation of sustainable transport strategies for the company’s logistics operations in Europe. He has more than eight years of experience in transportation planning and policy, working for various public and private sector organisations. Before joining Amazon, he was the transportation lead for the Markets Consolidation Programme at the City of London Corporation, where he managed the delivery of a low-emission freight consolidation scheme for the city’s markets. He also worked as a strategy planner and a graduate transport planner at Transport for London, where he contributed to various projects and initiatives related to road safety, congestion management and air quality improvement. Tom holds a master’s degree in geography from the University of Birmingham and is a volunteer for the Economic and Social Research Council Third Sector Research Centre.
Dan Saunders Head of fleet Travis Perkins
Dan Saunders is the head of fleet at Travis Perkins, the UK’s largest distributor of building materials. He is responsible for managing the company’s fleet of more than 4,000 vehicles and ensuring compliance with safety and environmental standards. He has more than 15 years of experience in the transport and logistics sector, working in various roles such as technical support manager, external fleet services supervisor and HGV technician at Gregory Distribution. He has a strong technical background and a passion for innovation and sustainability.
Andrew Scott Head of electric mobility and product development Renault Trucks
Andrew Scott is the head of electric mobility and product development at Renault Trucks UK and Ireland, where he leads the development of electric vehicles and solutions for the transport sector. He has more than 20 years of experience in the automotive industry, working in various roles such as engineering, sales, marketing and product management. He is passionate about decarbonising the construction sector and has been involved in the development of the UK’s first all-electric concrete mixer, in partnership with Tarmac and TVS Interfleet. Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nottingham and a master’s degree in automotive product engineering from Cranfield University.
John Stephens General manager logistics Grundon
Grundon Waste Management’s logistics operation has been a trailblazer when it comes to exploring new low-carbon HGV technology. In 2018, in a first for the commercial waste industry, it launched an ultra-low-emission hydrogen diesel dual-fuel waste collection vehicle, and its entire waste collection fleet has been certified CarbonNeutral® since 2014. Following a successful trial, it has more recently committed to converting two existing diesel trucks to zero-emission technology. It has also started to introduce electric forklifts into the fleet, among a range of other carbon-reduction initiatives across the business.
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Tony Stuart Head of logistics operations support Hovis
Tony Stuart, who is responsible for the 400-strong Hovis fleet, led the business to win the sought-after Low Carbon Award at the Motor Transport Awards in 2021. Ensuring that the sustainability values of the Hovis brand are demonstrated across the whole business has seen Stuart exploring a range of technology and fuels to reduce road miles and lower fleet emissions. He has helped shaped the Hovis fleet with fuel- efficient, custom-built urban delivery vehicles. Hovis was one of the first major operators to commit to a full-fleet switch from diesel to HVO, subsequently slashing 40,311 tonnes of CO2 emissions by the end of 2022.
William Tebbit CEO Green Biofuels
While the debate rages over whether zero-emission HGVs will be powered by batteries or hydrogen or both, Green Biofuels is quietly getting on with helping operators including Hovis, Travis Perkins and CEVA Logistics cut their CO2 emissions by up to 90% and NOx emissions by 30% right now, by replacing standard diesel with its Green D+ bioliquid fuel.
BP took a 30% stake in Green Biofuels last year after five “challenging” years – as William Tebbit and co-owner Magnus Hammick built up the business to a £300m annual turnover.
Green Biofuels buys hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) base product mainly from Finnish renewable fuels giant Neste, importing it in bulk to its two storage facilities on the Thames and in Liverpool. The fuel is then dosed with a special additive package the company has developed to improve the performance of standard HVO. It calls this product Green D+, which it markets as a 100% renewable low-emission “bioliquid” fuel.
Graham Thomas Fleet Operations Manager Ocado
Online retailer Ocado is a frontrunner when it comes to trialling the latest sustainable fleet technology. Graham Thomas is passionate about the transition to cleaner, safer fleet vehicles and has regularly shared his knowledge with industry peers at key events to provide insight into the latest Ocado vehicle trials and how new fuels perform on the job. The grocer has started to introduce electric delivery vans for its city routes, alongside CNG-fuelled HGVs for longer journeys, and is exploring the use of solar-powered refrigeration units. As part of Ocado’s commitment to lower carbon emissions, it has also explored electric-assist and pedal-powered micro vehicles, as well as looking at the future of autonomous deliveries.
John Williams Group chairman Maritime Transport
Few HGV operators can claim to have a net-zero vision for their business already mapped out – but John Williams has, for his container transport at least. “My strategy for Maritime is to own and operate the most sustainable and cleanest full-load supply chain in the country and the way we are doing that is to use trains for the stem mileage,” Williams told MT in 2022. “We handle 34 trains a day from Felixstowe, Liverpool, London Gateway, Southampton and Tilbury through our terminal network and more than 20% of our volumes now go by rail.”
Maritime has seven inland rail terminals in operation – with more in the pipeline – and the delivery mileage of its trucks is less than 40 miles. That gives it the opportunity to convert to battery electric vehicles at a pace and scale for first and final miles – something that, Williams says, “no one else will be able to do”.
“We have road-tested electric vehicles in Sweden fully freighted and they performed extremely well,” he adds. “The OEMs are all working on the range and they are up to 300km.”
14 MOTOR TRANSPORT / DECARBONISATION POWER PLAYERS 2023
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