Euro 5 Fleet
Euro 6 Trial
Emissions Reduction
The road transport industry accounts for around 18% of greenhouse emissions in Australia. At South West Express, we believe that that emission control and reduction, makes good business sense, and have made significant investments in driving down our environmental footprint.
In 2008 South West Express we’re the first transport operator in Western Australia to commence the upgrade their fleet to meet the Euro 5 emission. It was 3 years later, in 2011, that the Australian Government mandated this standard for all new trucks. This investment positioned the South West Express Metropolitan fleet of Scania prime movers as the first Euro 5 compliant Scania fleet within Western Australia. In March 2015 the fleet upgrade was completed with all prime movers 100% Euro 5 compliant.
In 2016 South West Express commenced a fleet upgrade to the Euro 6 standard. An important part of this process was to prove the suitability of the Euro 6 vehicles to Australian conditions. We have worked closely with Scania conducting a series of road trials and assessments with Scania on their Euro 6 compliant road train rated prime movers, prior to their official release into the Australian market.
This investment in the latest technology, demonstrates leadership in sustainable road transport.
Other Initiatives
See below some of the other environmental actions that South west Express has adopted to reduce both our own and our clients environmental footprints.
Cutting emissions, costs and noise pollution with electric refrigeration
Conventional trailer refrigeration units are consume more fuel, make more noise and are less reliable than current generation electric refrigeration units.
This is why at South West Express, we only purchase refrigeration units for trailers that are capable of being placed on electric standby. This approach means that when ever a trailer is parked at a depot for an extended period of time, they are plugged in to either mains or solar power which is more efficient, and produces only a fraction of the emissions that an idling truck would. In the event of a power outage, the refrigeration unit automatically switch over to the on board diesel motor, which drives the on board generator.
This procedural stance by South West Express has not only reduced the overall running costs of these refrigeration plants while storing refrigerated goods, but has also reduced our carbon foot print.
Solar Cold Storage
Operating a cold storage facility takes a lot of power. With the cost of electricity increasing the installation of a commercial grid connect photovoltaic (PV) system made both economic and environmental sense. This is why in 2014 South West Express installed a 24KW grid connect photovoltaic (PV) system at our Bunbury depot.
Today, this solar power system generates 34% of the total power consumed at the Bunbury Depot and will generate an average ROI of 27% per year over the 25 year projected life of the system.
Based on current conditions, this will save an estimated 31 tons of carbon emissions/annum.
This exercise once again demonstrates South West Express’s commitment to reducing it’s environmental foot print.
Biodegradable Cleaners & Sanitisers
South West Express is conscious of our need to protect our waterways from pollution and/ or contamination. For this reason South West Express ensures that all cleaning and sanitising products utilised in our daily activities are fully biodegradable and have no impact on our waterways or environment.
South West Express is also in the process of trialling the efficiency of utilising a diesel and oil spill kits at our Bunbury Depot. It is planned that the use of these kits will remove the need to utilise degreasers and water to clean up any diesel or oil spills that occur. It is anticipated that the trial of these spill kits will remove any possibility of these oil, fuel or degreaser products entering and contaminating our local waterways.
Recycling
South West Express has established recycling procedures within all of our business operations and locations. All plastic wrap and cardboard waste produced within our operations is collected at specific points within each depot and is delivered directly to recycling organisations.
Supporting our clients recycling efforts
We also recognise that the logistical headache that recycling can be for many of our clients, with too many businesses deciding to send recyclables to landfill because it is “too hard“. This is why we work closely with many of our clients to collect and store their recyclables at our depots, where they can be then transported in bulk to the appropriate recycling depots.
Separating the waste streams
Where services are available for use, South West Express utilises Council based recycling options to actively participate in the recycling of all other recyclable products such as glass and aluminium.
All waste oil products are collected from service contractors on site in Bunbury and are also presented to recycling companies for processing.
All work activities within South West Express are constantly scrutinised to ensure that the use of all consumable products such as shrink wrap is kept to a minimum, to ensure that all waste is minimised or eliminated from our work place.
Electric Forklifts
South West Express all forklifts operating in enclosed spaces are electric powered. This upgrade has resulted in
- a quieter, safer workplace for our depot staff
- reduction in exhaust fumes in enclosed areas
- reduced carbon emissions within the depot, through the utilisation of excess solar power, which charges the forklifts.
Hybrid Drive Vehicles
South West Express has also been examining in detail the utilisation of the now available Hybrid Diesel vehicles for utilisation within our fleet of small distribution vehicles.
The stance of South West Express is to at the first opportunity to trial one of these vehicles in application, and to then (if these trials are successful), initiate a system of rolling these hybrid vehicles into our fleet in line with current small vehicle replacement programs.
Current vehicles available are to a maximum of 8.5 tonne GCM. As such, these Hybrid vehicles are only compatible to replace our current fleet of 3 small distribution vans when needed. As larger capacity vehicles become available, further application and utilisation avenues can be examined and implemented.