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If you work in the haulage industry, you’d have to have been living with your head under a rock not to notice the push to go green. The environment is at the forefront of many people’s minds (and rightly so) and more and more individuals and businesses are becoming conscious of their carbon footprints. However, despite the fact that this is a positive mind set, and that cleaning up Mother Earth is an admirable feat we are undertaking, oftentimes it seems as though the brunt of this burden tends to fall on the shoulders of those whose careers are in haulage. Although it’s understandable that we need to be careful, responsible and regulated – after all, we do contribute to pollution simply because we are often on the road – initiatives such as the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) can be expensive and difficult to work around. Luckily, the Southampton Council is coming up with solutions that will serve these two seemingly opposing views – alternatives that are both good for the environment and steer away from the potentially controversial CAZ. Read on for more information. Southampton Saves the Day Southampton, the second largest container terminal port in this country, has decided to lead by example. They’ve publically announced that they don’t wish to comply with the CAZ which, in turn, has set a precedent and helped other local councils across the UK feel comfortable doing the same. The head of the RHA has even congratulated them, stating that they’ve helped save many local haulage businesses with their opposition and that they are using common sense. Amazing Alternatives However, just because Southampton has said no thanks to the CAZ doesn’t mean they aren’t all for the clean air agenda. Over the past three years, the council has spent 15 million pounds on a plethora of progressive projects, such as: • Making use of fuels that are cleaner • Introducing low emission taxis • Public transport, such as city buses, that are greener and cleaner • Freight consolidation in the transport industry Since these initiatives have been introduced, they’ve had a proven success rate. In fact, nitrogen dioxide levels in even the most polluted parts of the city have been reduced up to 24%. Southampton isn’t planning to stop there, though – they’ve got plans for the future, including: • Giving credit and recognition to haulage operators who are the most environmentally friendly • Allowing local businesses more opportunities for freight consolidation • Lowering emissions even more with an initiative called the Green City Charter (with the help of this implementation they hope to be entirely carbon neutral by the year 2040) As you can see, just because the Southampton Council has decided they don’t want to participate in the CAZ doesn’t mean they aren’t concerned with protecting the environment – they’d just prefer positive solutions as opposed to unfairly penalising hauliers for just trying to make a living. Sounds like a good middle ground to me! Author Plate Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry. Haulage Exchange provides services for matching haulage drivers with available haulage jobs. Over 5,400 member companies are networked together through the Exchange to fill empty capacity, get new clients and form long-lasting business relationships.
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