Author: Simon Pavey

Electric charge point, charging a white electric car

Office for Zero Emission Vehicles – how can they help your business?

Posted on | by Simon Pavey

There’s no denying that the next decade will see many changes on our roads as zero emission vehicles become commonplace.

This change is not without government backing. In fact, a team exists within the government to support the UK’s transition – the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles.

Who are the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV)?

OZEV is a team within the government working to support the UK’s transition towards electric infrastructure. The office is comprised of staff and funding from the Department for Transport, as well as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The office is responsible for advising ministers on matters concerning the transition to low emission vehicles. Their goal is to improve access to charging by supporting the rollout of charging infrastructure in order to make the transition more convenient and viable for consumers and businesses alike.

What are they specifically doing that could be of benefit to your business and fleet?

The Workplace Charging Scheme

OZEV operates the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS). This provides support to businesses, charities and public sector organisations looking to install electric vehicle charging points.

The WCS offers businesses up to £350 per socket for up to 40 charging sockets.

Your business can apply for the scheme if you meet the following criteria:

  • Are a registered company.
  • Must be either a public authority, or have received less than €200,000 of public support within the last 3 years.
  • Can either declare a need for charging equipment, or show intent to encourage EV uptake among staff or fleet.
  • Are located within the United Kingdom.
  • Have dedicated off-street parking.
  • Either own the property on which the charging points will be installed, or you can provide proof of consent from the landlord.

As of July 2021, the scheme has funded over 13,000 charging point installations.

In addition, drivers who personally own an electric vehicle can apply to the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, which offer £350 to help towards installing a charging point at home.

Research and innovation

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles also funds and supports the research of emerging technologies. They hope that the UK can use the results of this research to “exploit and lead globally”.

Their goal is to use this research to make the most of the environmental and economic benefits that the country will see as we make the transition to a zero emissions infrastructure.

The government is set to provide £1.3 billion by 2025 in hopes of supporting the roll-out of charging points on motorways and A-roads, as well as in homes and businesses.

By 2023, OZEV aims to see a minimum of six high powered charge points at each motorway service area. By 2035, the government office expects to see 6,000 high powered chargers on the motorway network.

This is promising progress. Research suggests that the UK will need to install five times as many charging points as it has right now, if we are going to meet our climate goals.

Later this year, the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles will release their Infrastructure Strategy. This will outline how they plan to support the charging infrastructure rollout needed to achieve the 2030 phase out of carbon burning vehicles.

Row of electric cars connected to charging points

What is the 2030 ban on fossil fuel vehicles?

The government announced in 2020 that the sale and production of petrol and diesel cars would be banned in 2030.

This ban is just one step in the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan to revolutionise the UK’s industries and infrastructures to be more environmentally friendly, and make progress towards reaching our climate goals.

The ban was initially set to happen in 2040, only 10 years before the country aims to reach net zero. Pressure from green groups saw the ban brought forward to 2035, then again to 2030.

OZEV is the driving force behind ensuring that the UK has the infrastructure in place to support this change.

Many drivers have felt nervous about making the change to a low emissions vehicle. Fears about range limitations and charging speeds put a dent in the reputation of EVs. Drivers were worried that, compared to their fossil fuel burning vehicle, an EV would only travel a portion of the distance they required before having to stop at a charging point, which could take hours to get the battery up to full capacity.

With OZEV’s support and planning, however, these worries will likely subside in the coming years. The workplace and home charging schemes, as well as their funding towards public charging points will mean all drivers have easy access to EV charging.

How can Fuel Card Services help your business transition to EVs?

Businesses should ensure their fleets have easy access to the right charging facilities. On top of that, reducing fleet costs is equally important.

Our range of fleet management services can help your business save time and money, and ensure your operations run smoothly and efficiently. Get in touch with our team of experts today and see how we could help your business.

Lorry driving away from sunset

Brexit and the pandemic – have they changed the transportation industry?

Posted on | by Simon Pavey

The last two years have seen Brexit and the pandemic transform many aspects of life in the UK, and the transportation industry is no exception.

It would be ideal to analyse the current state of the transportation and haulage industries and determine which factors are a result of Brexit, and which are a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this is very difficult to do.

Brexit officially happened on the 31st January 2020. The first UK lockdown was announced on the 23rd March 2020.

So, as you can imagine, the transportation industry has been affected simultaneously by these two events.

Something that has been massively impacted by both Brexit and the pandemic is the growing shortage or HGV drivers.

Why is there a driver shortage?

There was already a shortage of drivers hitting the transportation industry before Brexit or the pandemic had happened. Older drivers are reaching retirement age, whilst younger drivers are becoming harder to find. However, the situation has deteriorated in the past two years.

UK lockdowns meant that tests had to be postponed. Logistics UK estimates that there is a backlog of 45,000 lorry driving tests. Now lockdowns have eased, these tests should be able to get underway. The DVSA also announced that they hope to see test pass rates from 1,150 per week to 2000 per week by allocating additional staff and overtime.

Others attribute a huge loss of drivers to Brexit. Around 25,000 European drivers from the returned to their homes after the referendum announced that the UK would be leaving the EU. This could be due to fear or confusion about post-Brexit rules on immigration.

The new rules regarding work visas makes it difficult to recruit EU drivers quickly. Richard Burnett of the RHA has asked that short-term visas be allocated to foreign drivers so that the transportation industry has access to more drivers sooner rather than later.

Have vehicle sales been impacted?

70% of all cars sold in the UK are first imported from Europe. When the UK left the EU, it was expected that our ability to import would be impacted.

2020 saw a 29% decrease in car sales compared to 2019. However, this statistic can of course be attributed to the pandemic as well. Fewer people were driving or considering purchasing new vehicles when they had less need to leave their homes.

It was also expected that car prices would increase due to changes to importation procedure. However, this has been avoided. The UK government struck a trade deal with the EU towards the end of 2020. This deal prevented a 10% tariff being applied to cars and car parts imported from Europe.

Is driving in the EU any different?

There has been some confusion amongst drivers as to whether they need to carry a green card whilst driving in the EU.

A green card is proof from your insurer that your vehicle is ensured. It is needed in various countries around the world.

The EU have announced that drivers of UK-registered vehicles will not need a green card. This is especially useful for road hauliers; fleet managers can spend time less time worrying about whether their drivers have the correct documents. All UK vehicle insurance provides the minimum third party cover to drive in the EU and various other countries.

White lorry driving on UK road

On a similar note, drivers don’t need an international driving permit (IDP) to drive in the EU as long as they have a photocard driving licence issued in the UK. However, it’s always worth checking the requirements to drive in each country on your route to avoid any further complications.

Previously, vehicles required a GB sticker if the number plate doesn’t already display the GB logo. However, this is set to become obsolete. From September 2021, the old sticker will be replaced with the new UK sticker. Whilst this may not be a direct result of Brexit, the decision is theorised to have been made to include Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, but not Great Britain.

Why are some UK hauliers considering moving to the EU?

According to a survey by Haulage Exchange, over half of British haulage firms are making or considering an operations move to the EU.

The surveyed companies state that they have experienced longer border waiting times, and many said they spend longer doing admin before crossing into the EU. The survey also found that 69% of hauliers think Brexit has caused them to lose business, whilst 19% dealt with the delays and increased admin time by simply not doing business with EU companies.

The transportation industry in the UK is facing many changes as a result of both the pandemic and Brexit. Whether you are part of the businesses experiencing difficulties during this time, or part of the 6% who have seen no impact since Brexit happened, you should be considering how your fleet can be saving money.

Get in touch with Fuel Card Services today and see how we could help you save time and money. Our branded fuel cards and range of fleet management solutions are designed to get your fleets running at maximum efficiency.

Grey fleets - using a personal car for business use

The pros and cons of a grey fleet

Posted on | by Simon Pavey

Every business wants to be profitable, to not overspend on acquiring assets, and to have their employees feel safe and supported. Grey fleets could be one good way of ticking all these boxes at the same time, however whether or not this is true can vary from business to business.

In this article, we’ll dive into the pros and cons of grey fleets; first explaining what they are before sharing our tips on how to manage them.

What is a grey fleet?

A grey fleet describes fleet vehicles that are owned by a company’s employees and driven for businesses purposes, as opposed to when vehicles that are used for business activity are owned by the business as assets.

While this might not seem a huge distinction given that businesses typically compensate drivers who use their own vehicles, there are many legal and technical considerations to factor in when determining whether to use a grey fleet.

The latest Benefit-in-Kind HMRC data indicates that there around 870,000 company car drivers in 2018-19, which was in fact a whopping 30,000 drop on the previous year. Conversely, more and more grey fleets are being used, which you may well recognise on the roads from brands such as Uber.

When might you use a grey fleet?

If you’re deciding against offering company cars to your employees, as many businesses do, then one popular reason for this could be because you instead offer a monthly cash allowance to your drivers that matches or improves upon the financial position they would be in if using a company car. Whether this is the case can vary from business to business.

Typically, fleet operators will rely on the Advisory Fuel Rates (AFR) to calculate what costs would be paid on company car fuel, and consider this alongside relevant taxes to come to a decision on whether to purchase and utilise company vehicles.

It’s important also that the use of the vehicles is considered. Driving a personal car to the post office for business use is, legally speaking, very different to doing it for personal use. So, which way should fleet operators swing?

Grey fleet cars: are they a good idea?

How, then, do you know whether using a grey fleet is a good move for your business? Well, as a rough rule of thumb, using grey fleet cars is often most beneficial if your business does not have a high business mileage. Let’s dive into exactly why:

The pros of using a grey fleet

The obvious pro associated with using a grey fleet is that it’s potentially much cheaper than using company cars. The process of purchasing new company vehicles, maintaining those few vehicles, and acquiring the relevant insurance, can become extremely costly.

If your drivers are only making a handful of trips each month, then the chances are that it’ll be significantly cheaper to simply reimburse them for their fuel and maintenance expenses than it would be to move them over to using company cars as standard.

That said, to maximise this cost benefit and ensure that your drivers are only being reimbursed for business miles, it’s essential to have proper vehicle tracking in place. This is necessary, also, to make an assessment of whether a grey fleet model is right for you. For more help with tracking your fleet, view our MileageCount service.

The cons of using a grey fleet

So, grey fleets can help you save money. It’s important, though, that employers are mindful of the fact that there are legal processes required to facilitate a grey fleet – it isn’t just a case of drivers being entirely responsible for their own safety.

As an employer, the Government’s Health and Safety Executive body decrees that you have a ‘responsibility to take all reasonable steps to manage risks’ posed to employees while driving for business purposes – in a similar fashion to how you would in an office workspace.

Consequently, employers typically have to implement a safety policy, and often work this into their contractual relationship with grey fleet drivers. This applies even if the drivers are subcontracted. As an employer, you’ll need to check:

  • Whether drivers’ vehicles are properly compliant with tax and MOT laws.
  • Whether drivers are fit and able to drive physically and mentally.
  • Whether drivers’ vehicles are properly insured for business use.
  • Whether employee driving licences are valid. This includes checking licences if your drivers hail from a foreign country.

It’s worth noting that European driving licences are typically valid for three years in the UK before a UK license is required, whereas this only applies for one year for countries outside of Europe.

Group of cars parked in a row

Grey fleet management tips

If you’ve made a decision to explore the option of using a grey fleet a little further, or if you’re dead set on rolling a grey fleet policy out, check out our tips first.

  1. If you’re thinking about paying drivers monthly in cash as opposed to having them use company vehicles, you may want to set some hard rules for the business around what type of vehicles can be used. After all, you wouldn’t want to be paying to have cars with poor fuel economy used regularly. It may, then, be useful to specify the vehicle age, total mileage, and size (how many doors?).
  2. Ensure all of your employees’ vehicles are properly insured for business use. There are subclasses of business insurance that can vary depending on the frequency with which vehicles are used, and on their projected mileage, but it’s quite possible that your drivers are not covered for business use, and may need to upgrade their insurance policy in suit. Many fleet operators compensate this additional cost.
  3. Set a duty of care policy to outline exactly how you’ll look after your drivers while they’re operating grey fleet cars.
  4. Set professional standards by which drivers must abide by, even when using their personal vehicles for business use. After all, those drivers are representatives of your organisation during work hours, and so you’ll want them to promote positive company values as much as possible.

We hope our insights have helped you get to grips with using a grey fleet. Be sure to check on the latest regulations around this fleet model as safety and tax laws tend to evolve and change every few years.

How could Fuel Card Services help?

At Fuel Card Services, we specialise in supporting fleets across the country – grey or otherwise. Our range of advanced fleet services can help fleet managers with everything from servicing and maintenance to advanced telematics and tracking vehicle mileage. We also offer:

  • MileageCount – an intelligent, automated system for accurately reporting mileage claims.
  • DriversClub – our fast and free fuel-finder app that helps your drivers quickly locate their nearest fuel pump.
  • Expert – An app for helping with conducting and logging daily vehicle safety checks.

If you’re serious about making efficiencies within your fleet operation, then contact our friendly experts to see how we can support you. Did we mention that we’re also the UK’s largest independent provider of fuel cards that can help you cut costs on every mile?

Man delivering package from delivery van

Last mile delivery strategies for fleets

Posted on | by Simon Pavey

The big shift toward e-commerce was one of the most notable by-products of the coronavirus pandemic, and now, well into 2023 – the era of online shopping remains in full swing. With four in five UK consumers buying digitally, the supply chain considerations made essential by the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 remain pertinent to today’s vendors and suppliers.

As a fleet operator, then, how do you put in place infrastructure that allows you to make the most of the thriving ecommerce landscape, and get your goods to consumers with competitive costs, timings, and customer satisfaction?

This is the challenge many businesses are still facing, and perhaps the most complex part of that supply chain problem is the last mile of delivery, which is exactly what we’re going to explore today.

What is first mile and last mile delivery?

Within any supply chain, whether regional or global, it’s typically the case that the first mile and the last mile of delivery is the most strategically challenging for commercial fleets. That’s why these parts of the freight journey are referred to with special terminology.

Last mile delivery, for example, is often the most complex part of a supply chain. In terms of cost alone, it typically amounts to around 40% of the total cost of delivery, and as you can imagine requires a bunch of technical considerations such as:

  • Route efficiency; how best to navigate the (typically) urban environment in which parcel recipients reside.
  • Environmental impact; are our methods of transport and delivery having a particularly negative impact in terms of pollutants? Are there greener methods through which journeys can be completed?
  • Customer-focused challenges; how can we give customers realistic delivery times and maintain a high quality of service?

This same set of considerations applies, to a lesser extent, to the first mile of deliveries – whereby goods must often be transported from a manufacturing plant to a distribution centre.

Last mile logistics

To understand the scale of the logistical challenges associated with final mile deliveries, here are some real-world practicalities that must be factored into supply chain management:

1. Maintaining a competitive cost per kilometre

Tracking the exact routes covered by your fleet and reporting on those journeys digitally is a challenge in of itself (one in fact, that we can help you with), but beyond this- how do you ensure that your drivers are pathing from destination to destination in an efficient way?

Particularly for smaller businesses, it’s essential that you have the right technology in place to GPS track routes for the sake of efficiency. This allows you to calculate optimal routes to enable timely deliveries without resulting in lorries of cars racking up too many miles.

Naturally, an ideal solution would factor in how many legs are associated with each trip, which is typically the more the merrier unless individual legs cover lots of kilometres. These challenges are made much more discoverable and digestible with the right tech in place.

Delivery van with open back doors showing cardboard boxes

2. Maximising vehicle capacity

Every fleet operator in the UK would love to be able to claim that each of their vehicles operates at 100% capacity, but this is virtually never the case. That’s because customers expect timely deliveries, which we’ll get onto, but the key element to consider here is cost.

If your vehicles are covering vast distances while at half capacity, you’re going to quickly find each delivery becoming less profitable. That’s especially an issue if you aren’t already taking steps to reduce the cost of fuel for your drivers.

3. Managing customer expectations

When you think of efficient last mile deliveries, relatively accurate delivery time windows and quick deliveries, made not long after products or services have been ordered, which companies come to mind?

For us, it’s Amazon deliveries and Uber services.

The sheer speed of Amazon deliveries, backed by a well thought-out, nationwide distribution network sets the bar very high for consumers when they consider what they should expect from a last mile delivery service. For smaller businesses who will likely never be able to match these distribution capabilities, it’s important to focus on understanding which elements of last-mile delivery customers expect, and channelling efforts into improving in these areas.

As a starting point, a good place to focus may be on expected delivery windows. Gone are the days where simply allocating a day, or perhaps a 10-hour time window for delivery, is considered adequate by customers.

When services such as Uber can provide pinpoint accuracy with drivers’ arrival, or Tesco deliveries can allocate a two-hour window, customers come to recognise that as the norm. So, as a fleet operator or small business, you’ll need to ensure you’re taking reasonable steps to modernise and upgrade your last-mile delivery service to maximise customer satisfaction. If this is a real struggle for you, then it could at least be worth ensuring you’re realistic with your customer base.

Boosting your last mile delivery strategy

We hope that we’ve given you a good idea of the key areas within last-mile deliveries to look out for when trying to improve your operation. There’s also a huge contingency element to last mile deliveries that are worth investigating; what if your vehicles encounter bad weather while moving freight? What if certain routes become inaccessible?

One final piece of advice from us would be to look out for the innovations that are coming to last mile deliveries. For example, what if drones could prove to be a sustainable, automated, and effective way of delivering certain goods for local businesses? While this technology may feel like it’s not quite on our doorstep, keeping an eye on the latest industry news around this topic could be worth your time.

How could Fuel Card Services help?

At Fuel Card Services, we specialise in supporting drivers and fleets with the right technology needed to track last mile deliveries, maintain vehicles, and record mileage. Our range of fleet services is designed to give you access to:

  • Advanced telematics – a fully customisable tracking system tailored to your fleet’s requirements that can improve safety for your drivers.
  • MileageCount – an intelligent, automated system for accurately reporting mileage claims.
  • DriversClub – our fast and free fuel-finder app that helps your drivers quickly locate their nearest fuel pump.

If you’re serious about improving your last mile deliveries through upgrading your fleet technology, then contact our friendly experts to find out how we can support you. Or see how we can help you save money on fuel cards to improve every journey.

Red diesel pouring from tap

New restrictions on red diesel use – how should you prepare?

Posted on | by Simon Pavey

As of April 2022, new restrictions on red diesel will be introduced. Previously, many sectors have been able to enjoy the use of this rebated fuel for various uses. However, new government measures will mean fewer sectors will be permitted to use the fuel.

What is red diesel?

Red diesel is the same as regular diesel except for two major differences.

Firstly, it is taxed at a much lower rate than regular fuel. It tends to be around 50p cheaper per litre compared to regular diesel. However, it is not supposed to be used to fuel regular road vehicles. Instead, the fuel is mainly used for three things:

  • Fuelling off-road machinery such as tractors or forklifts.
  • As fuel for heating in buildings.
  • As fuel for generators.

In fact, it is illegal to use red diesel to fuel your road vehicles – doing so is considered to be tax evasion. If you are caught driving on the road with this fuel in your tank, there can be serious consequences for the driver.

That brings us to the second major difference from regular diesel –  the liquid is dyed red, hence the name. If police suspect that you are using the fuel, they can use a dipstick to check your tank. If it comes out red, they’ll know you have been using the rebated fuel.

Who will be permitted to use red diesel in 2022?

When the act was announced in 2020, it was stated that the only exception to the ban was in industries such as agriculture and rail travel.

However, further exemptions have since been added. As of April 2022, the following uses for red diesel will be permitted.

  • Fuelling vehicles and machinery used in agriculture, horticulture, fish farming and forestry.
  • Powering passenger, freight and maintenance rail vehicles.
  • To heat and power non-commercial buildings such as homes, places of worship, hospitals or town halls.
  • Powering off-grid generators.
  • To power amateur sports clubs and golf courses.
  • Powering machinery used in travelling fairs and circuses, including caravans.
  • To fuel marine craft operating in the UK.

What are the implications of this change for your business?

If your business has been using red diesel for a purpose not listed above, you will not be permitted to continue using it after April 2022.

There is also no grace period to finish your old stock. If you have any red diesel left over after April 2022, you will not be permitted to continue using it unless you are in a sector that is unaffected by the ban.

Instead, any of your vehicles that require diesel fuel will need to be filled up with the standard white diesel, or an alternative such as Shell GTL or HVO.

Tractor ploughing field

To continue enjoying discounted fuel, ensure that your drivers are equipped with a fuel card that is right for your business.

A number of cards in our extensive range of branded fuel cards offer savings on diesel. Don’t let the new restrictions on red diesel catch your business out; prepare yourselves with a fuel card to keep your fuel costs as low as possible.

Why have these changes been made?

According to the government website, the objective of this policy is to steer businesses away from fossil fuels in order to reduce emissions.

Red diesel is currently responsible for 14 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. It is hoped that, by limiting its use, the UK will have a higher chance of reaching its 2050 target of being net zero.

Additionally, the government hopes that the restrictions will prompt businesses to make the transition to electric vehicles.

More tax will be paid by businesses sticking to diesel, as they will have to switch to regular diesel which is taxed at around 58p per litre. This money will be reinvested by the government into green initiatives. This likely includes extra charging infrastructure as well as grants for purchasing low emissions vehicles.

Is your business ready for the restrictions?

For those businesses no longer permitted to use red diesel, it is important to consider how costs will be kept low.

With the right fuel card, your fleet could keep fuel costs low despite the upcoming changes. Making the switch to regular diesel doesn’t mean your fleet’s running costs have to break the bank.

Get in touch with the team at Fuel Card Services today, and we’ll see how we can help you prepare for the April 2022 reform.