Will LoCITY follow the same path as SUD and Van Smart?...

LoCITY and ULEZ are becoming more of a talking point each day, people are still trying to find the best solution to the new zones so that businesses can continue to operate efficiently. There are currently a number of talking points that need to be addressed before the widespread clean air zones are introduced, one of the most prominent being what do operators that cannot afford to upgrade their fleet or are tied into a contract do to continue trading? Ultimately, if businesses are forced out of urban areas the whole community will suffer. All shops within that area will struggle to get their stock, people will lose jobs and the economy will face the consequences which is not the aim of clean air zones.

Grants are one of the most viable solutions that people discuss, this would mean offering money for people to retrofit their Euro 5 vehicles and make them Euro 6 compliant using the new technology that is being developed. Another key viable solution that was raised this week was the potential to void fines for operators that have recently signed new contracts (in the last 2 years), this would mean they can fulfil their contract hire or lease contract and then order compliant vehicles at the next opportunity. These solutions would both give operators genuine options and opportunities to ensure they are compliant, rather than imposing new legislations and expecting every business to be able to afford to make the necessary changes immediately.

Alternatively, if a solution is not found operators may pass the fines onto their customers in order to keep operating. These extra charges will in turn be passed onto consumers, meaning the cost of living in urban areas will be increased overnight. While this seems like an unlikely scenario, if a mutually beneficial solution is not found this could be the most likely outcome.

However, with all of this talk about LoCITY and reducing vehicle emissions in clean air zones is LoCITY training set to become the next big thing in driver training? Safe Urban Driving, Van Smart and FORS are now recognised throughout the United Kingdom with some contracts specifying only FORS operators can participate in the tender process. Due to the focus on vehicle emissions LoCITY training could very well follow the same pattern and be stipulated as a requirement to access contracts. As well as this LoCITY training is a fully accredited training module and contributes 7 hours to the Driver CPC requirement, enabling your drivers to complete this valuable training while working towards their 35 hours of periodic training.

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