East Lothian Council awarded Local Authority Fleet Operator of the Year
East Lothian Council received a top award at the annual Transport News Scottish Rewards event held in Glasgow last week.
The award of Local Authority Fleet Operator of the Year was announced at the Transport News Scottish Rewards presentation breakfast event hosted by Des Clarke and Carol Smillie, which was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow on Friday 1 December.
The award recognised East Lothian Council’s commitment to decarbonisation which has been at the forefront of the fleet replacement programme. In January 2023 the council approved the Sustainable Fleet Management Strategy which identifies a route to meet the forthcoming emission targets both for the public sector fleet and national objectives. This has the fleet currently operating 14% of the vehicle assets as electric vehicle solutions.
This has also been supported through infrastructure investment which covers charging options on council sites along with a significant public charging network across East Lothian. The remainder of the fleet has a replacement programme driving towards all vehicles being Euro 6 standard by 2024 and then focusing towards 2025 Scottish Government goals and long term 2035 objectives.
Health and Safety is also a priority within the fleet management with the introduction of appropriate technology to enhance this where possible. The refuse fleet of 24 vehicle operates with Vision Techniques auto braking banksman system which is combined with a 4-camera live time recording system. These are also operated on the new internal bus fleet of 22-seat vehicles which give the service operators the ability to review any operational issues or carry out health and safety checks in live time without the need to be on the roadside. The winter maintenance vehicles operated by Road Services also use this to get an accurate picture of weather in remote locations, providing feedback to the public during critical winter periods.
Cabinet Member for Environment, Economic Development and Tourism, Cllr. John McMillan, said: “This recognition is a great achievement for our Fleet Services team. As a Fleet Team East Lothian Council continues to operate and maintain the vehicles and plant within our fleet to a high standard along with embracing new technology. The Fleet team ensure legal compliance is met and maintenance service is both timely and proactive to service users’ needs. On-going investment in replacement vehicles and plant is fully supported by the council, along with evaluating and testing alternative fuel solutions on our journey to net zero.”