Esh Group extends anti-idling campaign across entire fleet

The in-cab system alerts drivers if the engine has been stationary for more than two minutes.

During the trial, tipper driver David Jackson performed well, regularly posting months with zero hours of idling time. He has undertaken eco-driver training courses with Esh Group’s tipper suppliers, Scania and Renault, and now trains other Esh Group drivers.

Esh Group is now gearing up to roll out idling monitoring and education across its 258-strong fleet of vehicles. The next division to join the campaign will be Esh Construction’s Runway 1 team in a bid to reduce idling and carbon emissions during work delivered on Northumbrian Water’s repairs and maintenance framework.

Expansion to the civil engineering, affordable housing and drainage solutions divisions is expected to follow with onsite plant equipment also being looked at. All fleet drivers will sign an anti-idling pledge.

Brian Wray, plant director at Esh Group, said: “The transformation has been remarkable, thanks to the outstanding commitment of our drivers, who embraced the guidance and fully supported our efforts. Before implementing the anti-idling initiative, idling time from the tippers was consistently higher than 400 hours on average each month.

“This is a great example of what can be achieved when considering our impact on the environment, and now the hard work begins as we continue the wider rollout across the business.”

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