Reynolds, the UK’s only remaining family-run national greengrocer, is poised to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy with the addition of five new Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor units equipped with Hultsteins Ecogen 2 refrigeration systems to the fleet.
The company operates a fleet of 220 vehicles, which includes 30 vans, 190 trucks, and 21 refrigerated trailers from its headquarters and national distribution centre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. As part of its efforts to improve sustainability, which have so far included investments in electric vehicles and a zero-carbon farm, the company is reducing emissions and lowering diesel costs with the Ecogen 2 systems.
“I was familiar with Hultsteins and I liked the other products, such as the Slimline hydraulic refrigeration system. When I was looking at bodybuilding spec for new vehicles, I spoke to them again and had a look at the Ecogen units.” said Steve White, Reynolds’ Head of National Fleet.
The Ecogen system, in addition to adapting trailer refigeration units (TRUs) to emissions-free power, represents a highly cost-effective method for operators to adopt cleaner refrigeration systems, as there is no need to replace existing trailers or TRUs.
“We’ve got 17 frontline trunking HGVs, so we decided that, on renewal, we would fit the Ecogen system to five Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor units, which are on contract hire from NRG Riverside, obviously, there was the removal of the red diesel subsidy on 1 April this year, so that was a big incentive for us from a fuel-saving perspective, but we also have a series of sustainability projects and a plan to reduce our overall carbon footprint, so I felt it was a good product to trial.” continues Steve.
The tractor units are now in service with Reynolds, and Steve estimates that each Ecogen 2 unit will save at least £5,000 in diesel costs per year and more than 1,900kg of CO2 per year.
Earlier this year, the company announced it had put its first 100% electric 7.5-tonner on the road, supplied by Magtec.
