Part of the reality of running a multi-location retail operation is getting the goods from the warehouse to the stores. To help reduce the environmental impact of this process, the team at the London Drugs Distribution Centre started using biodiesel fuel in their truck fleet about 18 months ago.
Biodiesel is manufactured from renewable, non-petroleum resources like animal fats and vegetable oils – so the carbon released when you burn this fuel was previously captured from the atmosphere by plants, and is thus part of a natural cycle. (As opposed to petroleum fuels which release additional carbon into our atmosphere that has been stored in the earth for millions of years)
I spoke with London Drugs Shipping/Transportation Manager Bob Howe to find out more. He told me the trucks run a blend of Biodiesel and regular diesel fuel, which is adjusted according to weather conditions. (Pure biodiesel can ‘gel’ when the weather gets colder, clogging up fuel lines) In the winter, they use ‘B5’ blend, which contains 5% biodiesel. In summer months, that percentage can be as high as 20%.
So far, Bob says the program has been working really well. Horsepower and mileage is comparable with regular fuels, and although there is no cost advantage to using biodiesel, moving toward more sustainable solutions ultimately helps the whole London Drugs community.
If you want to find out more about biodiesel, you can visit the website of HIWAY Fuel Services, the supplier of fuel products for the London Drugs fleet.
