Core Facts
· Škoda tops all manufacturers in this year’s poll
· 503,000 deliveries to customers in 2008
· Operative profit up by 23 percent
· Market share expected to increase in 2009
· Business year 2009 reflects difficult market situation
· Long term growth objectives stay in place
Loughborough, 27 March 2009
Royal Mail, the postal operating authority for the United Kingdom is working with CENEX, PostEurop, the association of European public postal operators, and FuelCellEurope, the European association of fuel cell developers to develop a universal design specification for hydrogen fuel cell postal vans. Once a draft design specification has been developed Royal Mail intends to share the design brief with all the other European postal operators for input in order for it to be presented to major vehicle manufacturers around the world for consideration and to stimulate main stream construction at relatively affordable prices.
In January 2009, the Accord Dangereuse Routiers (ADR) introduced Europe-wide regulations that require transporters of certain dangerous chemicals to carry new items of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on board.
Arco, as the UK’s leading supplier of personal protective equipment, workwear and workplace safety products, can offer expert advice to anyone involved with carriage of hazardous goods by road, in order to comply with the very specific new legal requirements and ensure their drivers are safe in the event of an accident or emergency.
Jon Hammond, Sales Manager for Transport and Distribution at Arco, explains, “Each chemical has a specific health and safety information sheet that outlines the risks from contact with the chemical and the safety precautions to be considered.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will have the only compact panel van in the UK to be powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) when the Caddy EcoFuel goes on sale this summer. The larger Caddy Maxi EcoFuel, offering an extra 1.0 m³ of loadspace, will be introduced simultaneously as another practical, alternatively-fuelled choice for green-conscious van operators.
The VW Caddy EcoFuel has been developed as part of Volkswagen’s broad environmental research programme. It went on sale on the Continent in 2006 where 7,500 examples were sold last year.
There are two key benefits of operating a CNG-powered vehicle:
• Lower, cleaner emissions
• Reduced fuel costs (CNG is approximately 50 per cent less than diesel)
