Royal Mail has chosen Bristol for the launch of its first delivery office to operate with an all-electric vehicle fleet. It has replaced diesel vans with 23 electric ones as Bristol plans a new clean air zone (CAZ) from October this year to reduce polluting vehicle levels in its city centre. It is also installing charging posts within its site which draw from renewable sources. The move comes with several advantages, firstly the increased loading capacity of the new electric fleet which better aligns them with distribution of Royal Mail’s greatly increased parcel volumes.
Royal Mail already has more than 400 electric vehicles around the country, as well as 29 Bio-CNG fuelled gas trucks in its operation. It has said it is currently looking to implement changes at more of its depots. It will focus initially on those locations with planned and existing CAZs.
Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson said: “We are delighted to transform Bristol East Central into the very first Royal Mail ‘all-electric’ Delivery Office. This is a really positive step and will help us assess the impact of these changes on both our customers and our people when compared to conventional delivery offices.”
Royal Mail recently reported a four-fold increase in its profits during year impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, as national lockdowns led to a large rise in online shopping. It saw pre-tax profits for the year to March jump to £726m from £180m a year earlier, with revenues up 16.6 per cent to £12.6bn.
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