John Lewis Partnership wins Low Carbon Award
Congratulations to John Lewis Partnership (JLP) on recently winning the Low Carbon Award at this year’s Motor Transport Awards. Responsible for one of the UK’s largest department stores and supermarkets, JLP operates a fleet of around 500 HGVs, which it has long been committed to finding new ways of managing as sustainably as possible.
Ensuring low carbon emissions is a large part of this commitment, with transport accounting for 30% of the business’s overall CO2 output according to a recent article within Motor Transport magazine*, and emissions from trucks making up approximately 70% of that figure. At the 2017 MT Awards, JLP was therefore awarded the Low Carbon Award for the introduction of Europe’s largest fleet of 100% biomethane-fuelled trucks, as part of its long-term plan to operate a fleet run only on biomethane by 2025.
As the article goes on to describe, JLP’s journey to switching to an alternatively-fuelled fleet began in 2011, when it converted 43 Euro-5 diesel trucks into dual fuelled gas/diesel vehicles. Prior to this, in 2006, JLP initiated Programme Q, a long-term initiative to put in place a supply chain that would support burgeoning customer demand for an omnichannel experience in a way that was economically feasible.
Descartes is delighted to have played a part in the successful implementation of Programme Q ever since; using the Descartes Reservations and Descartes Route Planner solutions, JLP reduced delivery mileage per annum by 1.5 million due to an increased delivery capacity of 35%. Not only does this equate to significant cost savings, it has dramatically reduced the fleet’s carbon footprint.
JLP continues to lead the way when it comes to initiatives to minimise the effect it has on the environment and Descartes is very pleased to be a longstanding supplier of solutions that have been used to help bring them to fruition.
For more information about Programme Q and how the Descartes Reservations and Descartes Route Planning solutions were integral to providing a customer offering of more extensive, but unified, delivery services, read our customer success stories or contact a member of the Descartes team.
* ‘Emission possible’, Motor Transport, 02.10.17