Inside & Out - We are cleaning and spraying the vehicles every night.
Bumps and knocks, accidents lowest we have ever recorded.
Start of COVID peaked with at-home work kit deliveries
We are busier in the perimeters of London than at the centre
TfL boss Mike Brown opened the event. The round table on the web was operator-focused and saw operators turn out in strength - big numbers at the Zoom table.
Truck, van car and bike 'Zoomed in' for a TfL virtual round table LoCITY meeting, opened by Commissioner Mike Brown who praised freight for keeping the deliveries moving during COVID-19 and thanked both the care and NHS sectors.
IOC chair Carl Lomas chaired the big operator turnout, gas truck to electric van, nationals delivering to London alongside London centric and London operators from waste management to express, food and medical deliveries. Operators in the spotlight to open the TfL LoCITY zoom, Rob Scott GLH, car & van, Graham Thomas Ocado EV and gas, food final mile, Bithell Knights of Old on HGV.
Lucy Hayward-Speight delivered the TfL numbers and detail. Themed on the temporary regulation changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. TfL update on ULEZ, LEZ and DVS; with traffic down, vehicles are getting around quickly, accidents are down and air is cleaner.
Traffic is running easily during COVID
Air is clean with fewer vehicles on the road.
Road traffic levels have fallen in London by 45-60%.
Estimated reduction in NOx emissions of 45% across London
The proportion of NO2 at roadside sites attributable to traffic has reduced by around 75 per cent in central London.
Postponing LEZ and DVS by a minimum of 4 months
Scrappage scheme for heavy vehicles launches later this year.
Lucy detailed all the updates on TfL’s road charging schemes - Congestion Charge, LEZ and ULEZ - temporarily suspended from 23 March until further notice to ensure London's critical workers are able to travel round London in the way that best suits them, and to ensure supply chains can continue. London Councils have also temporarily suspended the London Lorry Control Scheme. Road traffic levels have fallen in London by 45-60%. There has been an estimated reduction in NOx emissions of 45% across London.. The proportion of NO2 at roadside sites attributable to traffic has reduced by around 75 per cent in central London.
The introduction of the tightened LEZ standards (to Euro VI) and the new safety permit scheme for the Direct Vision Standard will be introduced in October 2020 but enforcement will be suspended for at least 4 months. The scrappage scheme to help businesses prepare for the changes to the LEZ will be extended later this year to include HGV’s and buses. More details on this will be available soon.
Charles Wright DVSA talked MOT exemptions and driver hour number changes. Temp relaxation on driver hours, 9 to 11 with week up to 60 hours. DCPC extended to Sept 30th. DQC impacting over thirty thousand drivers. MOT expiring in next 6 months is exempt, but drivers must maintain the vehicle adequately.
Chief Inspector Patrick Holdaway from the National Business Crime Centre, provided an update on their engagement with business in response to Covid-19. Patrick highlighted that the transport sector is key in supporting the country and encouraged members to continue to report offences to the police.
And IOC chief exec Tracey Worth rounded up with a clear message on delivery safety at the point of door, reinforcing the campaign to the public, ‘Mark your door, sign up, if it does not need a signature, I am in, please leave the package.’
LoCITY chairman Carl Lomas explained the group,
It's not EV-centric, it's both light and heavy vehicle, it includes gas truck and even cargo pedal cycle solutions.
The group has reviewed that management and consolidation can be a key contribution to clean air. Looking at a case study for final mile in London, two streams of express courier vans, they have very different challenges. First stream is a van fleet returning to depot and struggling to find enough grid support, the second stream is the owner van driver returning home in London with no off-street parking - where to find charge? The LoCITY group meets quarterly around the table, during COVID it's around the Zoom platform and likely set to repeat the message more regularly.
Dial your diary in for May 5th as the three PM target for LoCITY return.
