Stuart O'Brien, Author at Fleet Summit - Page 17 of 53
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Stuart O'Brien

All your EV questions answered by WhichEV

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The editorial team over at WhichEV have built a monthly audience of more than 1.2 million readers and they are in regular contact with their community across a range of social media platforms. As the number of electric vehicles in the UK approaches the 1million mark – with pure electric making up half of that number – more and more people are asking questions.

WhichEV has launched a new section on its site, called EV Answers. Twelve articles have already gone live with over 20 more due to go live in the coming weeks.

What kind of questions are answered?  Well, the section covers things like a detailed installation of a charger and all that entails, information about how long it will take to charge, where you can get accurate data (you can trust) about climate change and whether the National Grid can cope with the nation moving to EVs.

The team are also keen to hear any suggestions you may have, so please feel free to email their editor using james@whichev.net if you’d like a particular questions answered.

Read more here: https://www.whichev.net/category/ev-answers/

Meet with the Association of Fleet Professionals at the Fleet Summit

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The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) is a not for profit body that supports, educates and trains the corporate fleet industry.

We love meeting fleet operators and are back to chat all things fleet at November’s Fleet Summit.

Come and say hi to AFP Board Members Ric Baird and James Pestell and chat about the issues you are facing running a fleet.  Find out what the AFP are working on and how they are striving to improve conditions for fleets.  If you’re not already a member, you can learn about the many benefits of membership including:

  • Supportive advice and guidance covering the latest issues of the day
  • Networking – connect with like-minded individuals in similar roles to sense check your approach to fleet issues.
  • Online member’s area – your go to for information on running a fleet.  Our growing Resource library aims to pool and share the best practice and advice from the industry.
  • Personal development and career enhancement via the AFP Fleet Academy education and training programmes
  • Regular webinars
  • Free members only events, including lunches, seminars and our annual conference – all included in your membership fee
  • Advance consultation on new legislation and government initiatives
  • Get your voice heard – representation of members’ views via our lobbying activities and regular dialogue with Government departments and officials

You can find out more here.

We look forward to seeing you.

Have you secured your free pass to the Fleet Summit?

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Taking place on 7th & 8th November at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre London Heathrow, the Fleet Summit allows senior fleet professionals to share forward-thinking ideas, meet new suppliers and discover new ways to underpin their future strategies.

Attendance is free, and includes:

  • A bespoke itinerary of pre-arranged meetings with product and service providers who match your requirements and upcoming projects
  • Access to a series of seminars by industry thought-leaders
  • Networking with like-minded peers
  • Full hospitality – an overnight stay at the venue, all meals and refreshments
  • An invitation to our evening dinner, with entertainment

Here’s just some of the feedback received from our recent event;

Excellent event, very useful and worthwhile – really well organised. Networking at its best – EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE COUNCIL

Well organised, friendly & informative event. Great opportunity to “get back up to speed” on how products have advanced and those new to the market – FREIGHT MANAGEMENT EUROPEAN LTD

Excellent speed dating for professionals, would take 6-8 months to arrange these – CARPET & FLOORING

Great event, very useful with some great suppliers. So much better than attending the normal conference type events. CITY PLUMBING

I was very impressed with the turnout of the event. I learned a lot of industry information, both for the company I was representing and for myself personally and career path – CONNECT PROPERTY SERVICES

To ensure your place is reserved, click here to complete an online booking form. 

These are the laws you’re most likely to break while driving

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How well do you and your fleet of drivers know the Highway Code? Chances are, the answer is not as well as you think! Though you might be as confident as anyone behind the wheel, there are plenty of little-known motoring laws that people around the UK break without knowing every day. You might have gotten away scot-free up to this point, but that doesn’t mean that you’ve stuck to every aspect of motoring law!

Though some aspects of motoring law may seem like common sense, other, lesser-known aspects of the law can be confusing, particularly when it comes to smoking, eating, and drinking behind the wheel – can you or can’t you? With that thought in mind, the vehicle experts at Anglo Scottish Asset Finance have highlighted some common areas where UK drivers may be likely to slip up…

Key Points

  • Contrary to common belief, eating or drinking behind the wheel is not illegal. However, if you’re deemed to not be in proper control of the car, you could receive a £100 fine and three penalty points.
  • Splashing a pedestrian with rainwater could net you a fine of up to £5,000 if you’re adjudged to be driving without proper consideration for others.
  • You could receive a fine of up to £1,000 in court if you’re caught paying with your phone whilst the car engine is running and handbrake is off.
  • You could receive a minimum of 10 points on your licence and a fine if you’re caught sleeping in your car whilst drunk.
  • Flashing your headlights to give way could result in a minimum fine of £30.

Eating and Drinking at the Wheel

The actual act of eating or drinking whilst driving is not strictly illegal. However, if you’re distracted behind the wheel, and are spotted by officers enjoying a bite to eat, you could still be breaking the law. If they deem that you aren’t in proper control of the car, you could be on the receiving end of an on-the-spot fine of £100, and three penalty points.

Turning on a Light in the Car

At some point or another during your childhood, chances are, you’ve turned on a light in the car, only to be swiftly shouted at by the driver for ‘blinding them’ or preventing them from being able to see the road clearly. Despite this, there’s no law against driving with interior lights on. If the light is adjudged to be distracting for you or even other drivers, however, you may be charged with careless driving.

Splashing a Pedestrian with Rainwater

Ever driven through a deep puddle and drenched a pedestrian? Sometimes, avoiding a puddle might be impossible. However, if you’re deemed to have driven ‘without reasonable consideration for other persons,’ you could be in hot water yourself. In that event, you could face a fine of £100 up to an eye-watering £5,000.

Phone Usage Whilst Driving

Everyone should know this offence – driving whilst using your mobile phone could net you a £200 fine and six penalty points on your licence. If you’re a new driver, you’ll lose your licence. The law stipulates that, in order to use any unmounted handheld device behind the wheel, you must be parked with the engine switched off.

This means that you could be in trouble if you use your phone to pay for a meal at the drive-thru. Any driver caught using their phone whilst driving could then receive a further fine of up to £1,000 in court, so you could end up with a VERY expensive Big Mac if you’re not careful!

Smoking in the Car

Smoking in a car on your own, or in a car full of adults, is not illegal. However, if there are any under-18s in the car with you, smoking is not permitted and has been illegal since 2015. Offenders could be punished with a £50 fine and five points on their licence – even if it’s one of your passengers who is smoking with a child in the car.

Driving in Incorrect Footwear

Did you know that certain types of footwear are prohibited behind the wheel? Though it’s not against the law, Rule 97 of the Highway Code states that ‘the footwear and clothing you wear whilst driving must not prevent you from using the controls in the correct manner.’ This means any footwear without a closed back or strap could earn you a £100 fine, as they could slide off your feet or get stuck under the brake pedal – so no flip-flops!

Improper Use of the Hard Shoulder

When you’re stuck in standstill traffic on the motorway, the hard shoulder could look like a great way to get around. However, since March 2018, this has been a finable offence. With fixed charges of £100 and three penalty points to be dished out for hard shoulder users, don’t get caught out!

Sleeping in the Car Whilst Drunk

You’ve had a few too many and – correctly – decide that driving would be far too dangerous. Probably best to sleep in the car and drive home in the morning when you’ve sobered up, right? Wrong. The law states that whoever is in charge of a vehicle should not be inebriated, and police have often classed sleeping owners as being ‘in charge.’ You could therefore receive 10 points on your licence and a substantial fine.

Driving With Headphones On

Driving with headphones on is not illegal – there’s no specific law that says you aren’t allowed to do so. However, it’s certainly unadvisable – your ears are key to identifying the position of pedestrians and other cars on the road, so you should always use the stereo rather than headphones where possible.

Using a Sat-Nav

Though using a sat-nav whilst driving is legal, there are a number of rules and regulations in place to prevent dangerous usage. Your sat-nav must be in a fixed position on your windscreen or dashboard – if you’re using it whilst unfixed, you could receive up to six penalty points and a £200 fine.

Flashing Your Lights to Give Way

You see it daily on the road – a driver flashing their lights to allow another driver through, or to allow a pedestrian to cross the road. However, you aren’t legally allowed to do this – you could encourage someone to make a manoeuvre when it isn’t safe. Using your headlamps in this way could carry a minimum fine of £30.

So, how many of these infractions were you aware of? And how many have you managed to avoid doing so far? It’s always worth giving your knowledge of the road a refresh from time to time, in order to ensure that you are driving as safely as possible for yourself and the other drivers on the road!

Allan Hetherington, Head of Prestige Car Finance at Anglo Scottish Asset Finance, said: ‘Motoring law can be complicated, and oftentimes drivers are unaware of new changes to the law, which is constantly updating in response to new technology and more. We strive to ensure all of our clients are up-to-date with their knowledge of motoring law and the Highway Code, so the roads are as safe as possible for everyone!’

Charging your EV at home: Everything you need to know

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By WhichEV
As the pace picks up in the (r)evolution from fossil fuel to electric vehicles, one question get asked more than any other: How can I charge my EV?
Commercial haulage operations will almost certainly need to have full charging stations installed at their key bases. This is something that companies like Renault Volvo and DAF will build into a complete quote for electrifying your company’s transportation system.
For travelling sales people and executives, a lot of the time they will be able to charge at home overnight but – when they are out and about – they may need to be part of a charging network like Juice from Octopus. That will allow them to get the best rates across thousands of different charging points (including very high speed chargers from Osprey etc) while helping your accounts team to stay in control of costs and the processing of expenses.
Whether you are charging for a personal or business vehicle the principles remain the same and you can find out more in this article…

CASE STUDY: Why Tesco chose Lightfoot to improve driver performance 

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Pioneering green tech company Lightfoot have released a new video focusing on their partnership with Tesco, which highlights how the game-changing in-cab driver coaching technology and accompanying driver rewards app have revolutionised the grocery delivery fleet’s operations. 

Speaking on the impact that Lightfoot has had on the Tesco fleet, Mark Stravens, Head of Driver Operations & Fleet, commented:   

“What Lightfoot gives you the ability to do is something that I never thought we’d get the opportunity to do without employing loads and loads of driving instructors – which is to be able to coach every driver that you employ, every single day”. 

As a result, the fleet has experienced incredible benefits, including a 7.5% improvement in MPG, a 7346 –tonne annual reduction in carbon emissions, 33% fewer speeding incidents, and a 75% reduction in instances of harsh acceleration.  

Watch the video to learn more about Tesco’s partnership with Lightfoot 

SMMT: UK car production down a fifth in 1H22 though shortages ease

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UK car production declined -19.2% in the first six months of the year, according to figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), with 95,792 fewer vehicles built compared with the same period in 2021.

403,131 units were built, representing the weakest first half since the pandemic-ravaged 2020 and worse than 2009 when the global financial crisis decimated demand. The main cause remains shortages of key components, most notably semiconductors, exacerbated by additional supply issues caused by the war in Ukraine, as well as significant structural and model changes within the sector.

Despite this challenging backdrop, June was the second consecutive month of increasing car production in the UK, up 5.6% with 72,946 units built. Although this was the best June performance since the start of the pandemic, in part due to supply chain shortages beginning to ease, output remains -33.2% below 2019 levels.

The year-to-date decline was driven largely by a fall in export volumes, with -23.9% fewer cars produced for overseas markets during the first half of 2022. This represents a loss of 99,388 units compared with the same period in 2021, despite exports still accounting for 78.6% of all production output. While the EU was the largest recipient of UK built cars, accounting for more than 60% of exports, shipments to the bloc decreased by -10.6%. Deliveries to the US also declined by -56.1% with the closure of a major UK plant in 2021 having a significant impact. Output for the UK market, however, rose by 4.3%.

Production of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has again proven to be a bright spot for the sector, with 32,282 produced in the first half of the year, an increase of 6.5%. This was bolstered by a 44.2% rise during June resulting in a record output of zero emission vehicles for the month. Output of hybrid, petrol and diesel cars, meanwhile, declined, by -19.9%, -8.0% and -60.2% respectively in the first half of the year.

The ongoing disruption to global supply chains has led to a downgrading of the industry’s production outlook, with 866,000 cars now anticipated to be built this year. While this represents 1% growth on 2021 volumes, it is 113,285 units below the March outlook, a reflection of the impact of the Ukraine crisis, lockdowns in China and the severity of parts shortages. Output is targeted to improve further in 2023 to 956,575 units, before surpassing one million units by 2025 as supply chain issues recede.3

Despite car production decreasing overall this year, significant investment into the UK industry is being made, with more than £3.4 billion announced so far in 2022, primarily for EV production and supply chains.4 This investment will provide a significant boost to the UK and local economies, creating and safeguarding jobs in a sector that is pivotal to the UK’s net zero goal.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “Car manufacturers have been suffering from a ‘long Covid’ for much of 2022, as global component shortages undermine production and put supply chains under extreme pressure. Key model changeovers and the closure of a major plant last year have also impacted output, but there are grounds for optimism with rising output over the last two months. As these issues recede over the next year or two, investment in new technologies and processes will be essential but this will depend on our underlying competitiveness. Sky-high energy costs, non-competitive business rates and skills shortages must all be addressed if we are to build on our inherent strengths and seize the opportunities presented by the dash for decarbonised mobility.”

Do you specialise in LPG/Alternative Fuel & Fuel Management? We want to hear from you!

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Each month on Fleet Management Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on a different part of the fleet market – and in August we’ll be focussing on LPG/Alternative Fuel & Fuel Management solutions.

It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help fleet buyers find the best products and services available today.

So, if you’re a supplier of LPG/Alternative Fuel & Fuel Management solutions and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact Chris Cannon on 01992 374096 / c.cannon@forumevents.co.uk.

Here’s our features list in full:

Aug – LPG/Alternative Fuel & Fuel Management
Sept – EV Infrastructure
Oct – Duty of Care
Nov – Grey Fleet
Dec – Service, Maintenance & Repair

Government touts ‘success’ of transport decarbonisation measures

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Electric motorbikes and mopeds will soon become the norm on UK roads, said the Government, as it set out a range of measures to mark a year of success since the Transport Decarbonisation Plan was introduced.

The plan set out the UK’s ‘greenprint’ to create cleaner air, healthier communities and tens of thousands of new green jobs across the UK.

The progress one year on shows almost 7,500 extra electric vehicle chargepoints have been installed, supporting the 900,000 green vehicles that are on UK roads, and over 130 new walking and cycling schemes have been funded.

The production of zero emission vehicles alone has the potential to support 72,000 green jobs worth up to £9.7 billion in gross value added by 2050.

To mark its one-year anniversary, the government is launching a new public consultation to accelerate the transition to zero emission travel by phasing out the sale of new fossil-fuelled motorbikes and moped by 2035, or even earlier for some vehicles.

Alongside the consultations, the Department for Transport is announcing funding for a competition to help industry develop the zero emission motorcycle supply chain in the UK. This will help create a manufacturing base for small, emission free vehicles and could lead to thousands of new jobs across the UK.

Successful applicants for the £350,000 fund, will undertake research to support the production and distribution of new, green vehicles within the sector.

Since the Transport Decarbonisation Plan’s launch last year, the government has worked at pace to deliver many of its ambitious commitments, including bringing forward a Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate to set targets for manufacturers to ensure the supply of electric vehicles meets the soaring demand.

Further progress includes:

  • announcing plans to support the UK market to increase public electric vehicle chargepoints by tenfold, by the end of the decade as part of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, making public charging cheaper and more convenient than refuelling at a petrol station
  • launching the government’s first office dedicated to decarbonising the UK’s maritime industry, known as the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions
  • developing a Jet Zero Strategy, which will be launched this year, setting out the roadmap to achieving net zero aviation
  • a pledge confirmed at the COP26 Summit to dramatically increase the pace of the global transition so that all new cars and vans are zero emission by 2035 in leading markets and by 2040 globally – this declaration now has 180 signatures, including from 39 countries worldwide and 14 major vehicle manufacturers on top of cities, fleets and investors
  • launched a £200 million Zero Emission Road Freight demonstrator programme – supporting industry to develop cost-effective zero emission HGVs and their associated infrastructure
  • supported 7 trial hydrogen transport projects to inform future investment decisions and prime export opportunities – the successful trials could lead to increased use of hydrogen-powered transport to move goods and carry out services
  • creating Active Travel England, led by Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman and providing local authorities with £161 million, to deliver 134 first-rate schemes to develop new footways, cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings across England

Helena Bennett, head of climate policy at Green Alliance, said: “The Transport Decarbonisation Plan laid ambitious foundations for the sector to begin its transition to net zero after 30 years in which emissions have stayed largely unchanged.

“It’s promising to see delivery of some of the plan’s goals begin including announcements on a zero emission vehicle mandate and phase out of polluting HGVs, but there is more to be done to keep the sector on track with climate targets, and it’s more important than ever, given the cost of living crisis, that boosts to public transport and walk and cycling infrastructure are prioritised.”

The government is also aiming to improve health and make walking and cycling the natural first choice for shorter journeys by publishing its second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. It sets out estimated investment, already committed from various funds, of almost £4 billion into active travel across the government until 2025, including £2 billion announced for active travel in 2020.

This investment will deliver measures including high-quality walking and cycling routes, safer road junctions, cycle training and a Walk to School Outreach initiative.

Lightfoot welcomes SaaS leader Bob Mann as new Chairman

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Lightfoot, the innovative Devon-based green-tech company and provider of industry-leading in-cab driver coaching solutions, has announced the appointment of Bob Mann (pictured, above) as Chairman of the business.

Bob Mann is credited as being a pioneering force in the Software as a Service (SaaS) space, and is currently also Chair of Openbravo, one.network, Social Value Portal, and ethiXbase, as well as a board member of Zift.

His vast experience and proven track record will enable Lightfoot to execute its ambitious growth plans, widen its offering to fleets in both the UK and abroad, and bolster the company’s reputation for revolutionising fleet management and telematics with its game-changing technology.

See what Bob Mann had to say about his appointment as Chairman of Lightfoot