{"id":6641,"date":"2020-07-18T18:09:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T16:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=6641"},"modified":"2020-07-18T18:09:53","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T16:09:53","slug":"nicholls-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/07\/18\/nicholls-transport\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicholls Transport shares feedback from running LNG trucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six months on from taking delivery of 10 IVECO Stralis NP 6×2 tractor units, Nicholls Transport is enjoying strong driver acceptance and is finding urban deliveries and motorway trunking routes are ideal for gas power.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicholls Transport’s 10 IVECO trucks powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) have worked throughout the Covid-19 pandemic transporting everything from paper and timber to food, bulk recycling and building supplies across the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

Darren Sherlock, finance director of Nicholls Transport sees a bright future for operators using gas trucks to deliver goods into large urban areas and when operating on longer trunking routes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe carry out regular deliveries of plasterboard from a local manufacturer in Kent to construction sites in central London. We can travel into the heart of the city without being penalised and with a clear emissions conscience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs more low emission zones are launched in our cities so gas will become key for operators to carry out work for their customers. Our trucks are also quieter than diesels which means we can make deliveries without compromising local noise levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHalf of our Stralis NPs work predominantly on trunking routes and they are performing very well. The level of driver comfort is good and complemented by the lower in-cab noise levels.\u00a0 The gas power is very efficient when working for long periods at motorway speeds,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Half of the gas-powered fleet is away from base all week with the drivers quickly adjusting to the national LNG refuelling network and planning their routes accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sherlock is keen to see the number of depots offering gas continue to grow to further improve the operating efficiencies of running an LNG fleet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe network needs to keep improving, we do occasionally run slightly off-piste in some areas of the country to ensure we can refuel. My drivers can cover a 300-mile round trip from our Sittingbourne base without having to fill up, but we do encourage drivers not to risk running out of gas,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicholls is yet to get an early indication of Stralis NP running costs compared with his 110-strong diesel IVECO fleet due to operating cycles being disrupted by Covid-19 and December factory shutdowns.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been frustrating that our operating cycles have been disrupted for three out of six-months with the trucks, so we are still yet to accurately compare operating costs with our diesel trucks, although early signs are promising,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

IVECO and supplying dealer Haynes Trucks in Maidstone delivered initial education workshops to ensure drivers were thoroughly trained and knowledgeable about the natural gas technology powering their new fleet.\u00a0 This included how to refuel safely and how to get the best performance from their vehicles. Drivers have quickly become accustomed to the trucks, with the most often heard feedback being \u2018how quiet they are compared with diesel\u2019, particularly on longer motorway journeys.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicholls\u2019 on-site refuelling station set up in partnership with GasRec has been busy fuelling its own fleet as well as receiving regular visits from other UK and European hauliers to fill up with gas as they travel through Kent. Although it has been shut to external operators during the Covid-19 pandemic, Nicholls long term aspiration is to scale up its refuelling forecourt to increase its capacity as more fleets switch to gas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe IVECO and GasRec partnership has been very strong, and they have both helped and supported us across all aspects of buying and running gas trucks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe maintain our view that gas is the only alternative fuel to diesel suitable for operation at 44-tonnes and with more operating restrictions being introduced for diesel trucks then gas will be the fuel of choice for many more operators during the coming years,\u201d said Sherlock.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/greenfleet.net\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

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The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n

FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six months on from taking delivery of 10 IVECO Stralis NP 6×2 tractor units, Nicholls Transport is enjoying strong driver acceptance and is finding urban deliveries and motorway trunking routes are ideal for gas power. Nicholls Transport’s 10 IVECO trucks powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) have worked throughout the Covid-19 pandemic transporting everything from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[231,272],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6641"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6641"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6643,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6641\/revisions\/6643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}