DPD one of the major couriers has announced that Oxford will become its first ‘all-electric city’ in the UK, with all future parcel deliveries being made in the city only with electric vehicles. DPD using a new depot in Bicester which has been built as a as ‘net zero carbon in construction’ building, as regulated by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC).
A fleet of 40 electric vehicles, will deliver over 15,000 parcels a week right across the Oxford city. This initiative will support the Oxford Zero Emission Zone pilot due to be launched later this year.
DPD said that a further nine UK ‘green cities’ will be confirmed this year. It is all part of ‘Vision 25’ – DPD’s pledge to deliver ‘green’ to 25 major UK towns and cities, covering 25% of the UK population by 2025. The other 24 towns and cities included in the initiative will be; Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Coventry, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton and Stoke-on-Trent.
The DPD is an example of the direction courier firms are moving in - other major companies are conducting similar initatves. The recent issues highlighted on the A3 and know problems in the town centre show we need to handle a range of pollution sources.
The council should be encouraging all Courier Firms to embrace electrification quickly, which may require enabling warehousing space to break bulk and allow for van recharging. There are also issues to be tackled to support Supermarket deliveries where schemes need to be appropriate, as evidenced by concerns at the plans for Sainsbury's in Burpham.
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