DHL UAE promotes natural gas fleet

Under the slogan “we travel naturally”, DHL has announced its plans to add compressed natural gas powered vans (CNGs) to its UAE express delivery fleet.

With natural gas continuing to develop as an alternative fuel of choice, and a forecast of 20 per cent natural gas share of road traffic fuel consumption in the UAE by 2012, the express and logistics leader is putting two environmentally-friendly units through a pilot testing phase as part of a plan to expand its UAE natural gas fleet in the coming years.

DHL UAE general manager Janet Jweihan said: “We are the first company in the UAE express industry to put these types of vehicles on the road throughout the testing phase as part of the normal delivery fleet.

“It’s our intention to make our business as safe on the environment as possible and we are committed to operating in an environmentally sound manner. We will endeavor to ensure natural gas vehicles account for at least 50pc of DHL express delivery fleet in the UAE by 2009 after the testing phase reaches its outlined goals.”

DHL UAE was recently upgraded to ISO 14001 accreditation, the internationally recognised standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS), after continuous extensive improvements.

Developments included advanced staff training to raise environmental awareness, as well as publishing DHL’s environmental policy as part of the parent company DPWN’s first sustainability report in June 2006, setting clear environmental objectives and targets.

Gasoline and diesel powered vehicles contribute to 80pc of environment pollution in the UAE followed by factories, a recent study conducted by the Strategic Planning Department for Transport at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai revealed.