Welch’s Transport gears up for electric HGV first
By Mike Scialom, Business correspondent and senior reporter at the Cambridge Independent.
Cambridgeshire-based family business Welch’s Transport is gearing up for the arrival of the first fully electric HGV to join its company fleet, paving the way for Cambridge businesses to benefit from a net zero pallet delivery service.
The new model is a fully electric 19 tonne vehicle able to deliver general haulage, palleted and hazardous goods.
Chris Welch, director of Welch’s Transport, says the move is a response to Cambridge City Council’s 2021 climate change strategy, which set out the goal of becoming net zero by 2030. The first step in the new Carbon Management Plan is reducing direct carbon emissions from fleet vehicles – including vans, trucks and refuse vehicles.
“The arrival of our new electric HGV will help the city council, and businesses in the city centre realise their net zero climate ambitions,” said Chris. “Multi-national transport and logistics companies must account for vehicle range and available charging infrastructure when plotting out electric vehicle routes for cities like Cambridge, and we are ideally positioned to integrate fully electric vehicles into our fleet due to the prime location depot in Duxford and our newly installed charging station.”
Duxford-based Welch’s Transport has been operating in Cambridgeshire since 1934 and specialises in general haulage, pallet distribution across the UK and Europe, dangerous goods (ADR) movements, warehousing and ecommerce fulfilment, contract logistics and Amazon FC deliveries.
Chris added:
“The combination of our knowledgeable local drivers and our new electric HGV will revolutionise last-mile deliveries in the Cambridge area.
“We can support every city centre organisation – as well as those in business parks, looking to improve their operations and meet their sustainability goals.”
Welch’s new electric vehicle is expected next month and should be on the roads around Cambridge soon after. It will be identifiable by its Cambridge-centric livery featuring the city’s skyline in eye-catching ‘electric’ colours.
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