How can you Measure the Environmental Impact of your Fleet and Reduce your CO2 Emissions?

Transport produced 27% of the UK’s total emissions in 2019, with 91% coming from road transport vehicles. Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) were responsible for 18% of this, while vans contributed 17%.

While global warming is at the centre of all our concerns, fleet managers must invest in protecting the environment, which means assessing the impact your vehicles are having on air pollution. Then, you must act to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.

It may sound like this is easier said than done, but it could actually be simpler than you think. You just need the right tools to do it.

Stop the complicated calculations

There are two methods you can use to calculate the environmental impact of your fleet so you can begin reducing your CO2 emissions: you can come up with your own mathematical estimations, or you can use fleet management services and solutions to provide you with a more accurate figure.

If you want to do your own calculations, you’ll need to take the number of kilometres your fleet has travelled in a particular month and work out how many litres of fuel were consumed in the process. This will then allow you to estimate what your greenhouse gas emissions have been. For more information on how to complete this process, make sure you read our guide to calculating your fleet’s carbon footprint.

Example

For example, let’s say you’re the manager of a fleet that consists of 20 vehicles, and each vehicle travels 1,500km per month, consuming 7L of fuel for every 100km.

If we know that one litre of fuel creates 2.6kg of CO2, this means your fleet will emit an average of 5.46 tonnes of CO2 every month.

It’s worth noting that this is just an approximate figure, though, which means it won’t be the most helpful when it comes to making decisions. For instance, it’s unlikely that every single vehicle actually uses 7L of fuel per 100km, as it will depend on factors such as your drivers’ behaviour and the model of vehicle they’re driving. This can then make it more difficult to decide exactly where changes need to be made for the most dramatic effect.

Time to use accurate data

Investing in a fleet management solution like MICHELIN Connected Fleet is one of the best ways to track and improve your carbon emissions. This will provide you with accurate data in real-time about each of your vehicles, as well as your fleet as a whole, so you can make informed decisions about where improvements can be made.

A good fleet management solution will track all of your journeys, the actual fuel consumption of each vehicle, and your drivers’ behaviour. This will then allow you to tweak your routes, provide further driver training, or even supercharge your maintenance schedules for the best possible results.

For instance, our client Highway Traffic Management was able to dramatically shrink its carbon footprint by optimising its journeys and encouraging eco-conscious driving among its workforce. This led to them reducing their CO2 emissions by 50%, which saved them £7,421.00 in fuel consumption.

Would you like our support with calculating and reducing your fleet’s CO2 emissions? If so, make sure you contact our team today! We're here to guide you on your path to a sustainable fleet.

Written by The MICHELIN Connected Fleet team

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