Activa Contracts has secured a fleet outsourcing deal with Peel Ports Group, one of the UK’s largest port operators, that focuses on modernising the company’s fleet and duty of care compliance with the introduction of a raft of safe driving features.
Peel Ports owns facilities in Clydeport in Scotland, Great Yarmouth, Heysham, Liverpool, London Medway and the Manchester Ship Canal and operates a terminal in Dublin.
Headquartered on Merseyside, Peel Ports has centralised management of its 190-vehicle fleet and has decided to switch from purchasing most cars, vans, 4x4s and minibuses to a fully outsourced contract hire with maintenance solution.
A total of 45 new vehicles, typically Vauxhall light commercial vehicles, have been recently supplied and a further 87 vehicles are expected to be replaced this year.
All new vehicles are being equipped with Lightfoot in-vehicle driver behaviour technology and Autokontrol geo-fence speed limiters which automatically reduces a vehicle’s speed to the speed limit within a port. Additionally vehicles are now specified with reversing sensors, Bluetooth and air conditioning.
All vehicles – 90% of the fleet are vans with the remainder comprising cars that operate as security vehicles and specialist vehicles – are driven almost exclusively portside.
The vehicles are typically low-mileage (some have clocked up under 10,000 miles), and Peel Ports is to shortly trial a Nissan e-NV200 electric van at the Port of Liverpool with the possibility that further zero emission models could be introduced to the fleet operation at all ports.