Chances are, like countless other businesses, your office will engage the services of a courier today. The fact is Canada’s couriers and logisticians are playing an increasingly vital role in Canada’s competitiveness – facilitating supply chains and just-in-time delivery systems, and doing it in a world of rising environmental and security demands. It’s a tall order, but Canada’s couriers say they are up for the job.
DELIVERABLES
In the vital quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, every effort is important. But in the courier and logistics industry – with close to 20,000 vehicles and 4,000 facilities in operation each day – environmental initiatives can have enormous impact.
“The courier and logistics industry is massive, and is absolutely vital to the Canadian and global economies, says David Turnbull, president and CEO of the Canadian Courier & Logistics Association (CCLA). “As an association, we’ve established an environmental committee to identify best industry practices and take advantage of the knowledge that’s been accumulated.”
The association has also actively lobbied for governmental financial support for early adopters of hybrid vehicles, and the Ontario government responded by announcing an approximately $15-million program in August 2006.
“The final details have yet to be announced, but we’re hoping that it’s going to cover about 1,000 vehicles,” says Mr. Turnbull. “Hybrid vehicles are one of the real solutions to climate change, and our industry is the perfect platform to introduce this kind of technology, because our vehicles go back to a depot every night.”
Doug Pinto, national manager of Environmental Affairs at Purolator and chair of the CCLA environmental committee, says, “Businesses have to get their products to market and to consumers. By greening those transportation channels, we’re greening business all over Canada. And by bringing new, alternative fuel technologies to the market, we can get to the tipping point where those technologies become more affordable for wide-scale adoption by other industries.”
The initial objective of the CCLA environmental committee, says Mr. Pinto, was identifying environmental issues and initiatives that pertain to the industry. “We look outward at public policy and creating a favourable environment for positive change. But we also look inward, to our member companies, to participate and share information. We’ve focused on alternative fuel vehicles and, going forward, are looking at member facilities and energy management issues.”
Purolator, a leader in environmental practices, has ordered more than 100 additional hybrid electric vehicles for use in Canada, and is also testing a 100 per cent electric vehicle in conjunction with Unicell Ltd.
Roger Martin, Unicell’s chairman, says, “We’ve worked closely with Purolator since 2003 to design a purpose-built urban delivery truck that is a battery electric vehicle.
There is no fossil fuel used at all – when the vehicle comes back to the terminal each night to get reloaded with packages, it also gets reloaded with electricity.”
A working prototype has been on the road since October of 2007. “What’s most exciting about this technology,” says Mr. Martin, “is that it produces no emissions on the road, and even when you factor in the emissions created by the electricity grids, the greenhouse gas emissions are about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of those of a traditional vehicle. Most experts in this area say we have to reduce emissions by 80 per cent to 90 per cent by 2050 – we’ve achieved that scale of reduction now.”
Other initiatives under way at Purolator are lighting retrofits at facilities in Winnipeg and Edmonton that will reduce energy consumption and costs by up to 50 per cent while improving available light. The company recycles more than 100,000 litres of waste oil per year, and uses advanced technology to optimize delivery routing. A no-idling policy is reinforced with technology that automatically turns off the vehicle after five minutes of idling – reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
Purolator currently has 49 hybrid vehicles on the road, using hybrid electric drive systems created by Azure Dynamics. Mike Elwood, Azure’s vice president of marketing and the chair of Electric Mobility Canada, says, “When you’re driving a commercial hybrid, you’re improving fuel economy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle maintenance by about 30 per cent. It’s a step in the right direction, particularly in commercial application; because these vehicles are on the road all day, they’re very effective.”
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