Royal Mail piling post high to reduce environmental impact
Royal Mail is raising the roof on its trailers to cut down on the environmental impact of its distribution network.
The business has taken delivery of 140 double-deck trailers – each with the capacity to hold 50 per cent more mail than conventional trailers.
The use of the trailers will reduce the road miles and carbon emissions of that part of Royal Mail’s operation by around 20 per cent.
Royal Mail has reduced the carbon emissions produced by its distribution network by 28 per cent in recent years and the purchase of the double-deck trailers – adding to 83 already in use – further demonstrates the business’s commitment to reducing the impact of its operations on the environment.
The new trailers will save the approximate daily equivalent of the following miles:
• Twice the circumference of the earth
• 56 trips from Land’s End to John O’Groats
• One fifth of the distance to the moon
Each trailer will hold approximately 100,000 items of mail – equivalent to the post for the whole of Islington, Harlow or Carlisle for a day.
Royal Mail Network Director Paul Tolhurst said: “We are motoring towards our goal of creating a greener transport fleet. Measures such as the double-deck trailers help improve our efficiency and we know that improved business performance goes hand in hand with improved environmental performance.”
He added: “This is part of Royal Mail’s integrated Carbon Management Program, which covers a range of strands including building energy and sustainable procurement.”
The new vehicles are 13.6 meters long and 4.44 meters high. They have been specifically designed by The Cartwright Group.
