Whitbread drives down CO2 emissions with new fleet

Whitbread, owners of the Costa and Premier Inn brands, will reduce its CO2 emissions deriving from distribution transport by 23% by investing in new double-decker trailers.


The trucks can transport 52 standard pallets, compared with the conventional 26. This reduces the number of journeys needed, reducing the miles travelled by an estimated 1.5m kilometres and saving 1,150 tonnes of CO2 per year. The company estimates this will result in an annual cost saving of £400k.

The move is part of Whitbread’s commitment to reduce its direct CO2 emissions by 26% by 2020. It will initially see 16 standard trailers and two tractor units replaced by 12 of the new double decker trailers, six servicing Costa stores and six servicing Premier Inn sites.

Whitbread logistics director Brodie McMillan said: “”We are delighted to be the first company in the UK to be using these space efficient trailers. Their unique design means we can pack more goods into a single load, both for primary trunking and backhauling, so reducing the number of journeys we need to make and speeding up our supply chain.

“Fewer journeys mean fewer miles, which saves us time and money, reduces congestion and drastically cuts the carbon emissions from our logistics fleet. Scaled up, the benefits that we’ll see from these trailers over a year’s worth of journeys are simply huge.”

Other activity includes engagement with the company’s supply chain. In fact, a recent exercise with the Carbon Trust has already identified carbon emission reductions to be made in the production of the Premier Inn bed.

Will Parsons

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