On 20 July, Welch’s Transport hosted the Road to Net Zero Festival from its headquarters in Cambridge to promote a greener and more sustainable future haulage industry.
Guests enjoyed round table discussions, talks from industry experts, and depot tours showcasing how Welch’s is supporting local businesses in reducing their carbon footprint.
With the UK Government’s 2050 Net Zero deadline approaching, Welch’s Transport has implemented its own Net Zero service to help companies in Greater Cambridge reduce emissions in their supply chain.
The Road to Net Zero Festival saw representatives from businesses within the Greater Cambridge area exploring the innovative Net Zero solutions that Welch’s Transport has launched to provide cleaner and more green supply chain solutions for the community.
Welch’s Transport is one of the first hauliers in the UK to adopt a fully electric Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) as well as launching its Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC), which aims to make the last mile of deliveries within the city completely emissions-free.
In addition to this, the organisation has installed one of the UK’s first publicly available HGV superchargers to speed up the installation of charging infrastructure in the region.
Commercial and Operational Director of Welch’s Transport, Chris Welch, commented: “The festival was a resounding success in our eyes. Not only did we showcase our current and potential customers the Net Zero supply chain solutions we can now offer, we demonstrated to the industry how decarbonisation can be tackled now.”
During the Road to Net Zero Festival, Andy Salter led a panel discussion on how the industry can use technology to improve efficiency and reduce emissions throughout their business, starting in the traffic office.
The panel discussion included representatives from Optimize, Qargo, Cubo, and Aquarius, sharing their insights on AI route optimization, battery infrastructure and traffic management systems.
Commenting on the importance of collaboration, Welch said: “During the panel discussion, our partners helped us highlight the different areas which are important in the ‘road to Net Zero’.
“Our friends at Zenobe powered the main stage and AV equipment with one of their second-life battery power skids while our fleet and route optimisation software partners, Optimize, demonstrated how its algorithms are helping us achieve up to double-digit savings in route efficiency for our fleet.”
“Hopefully the Greater Cambridge community learned more about what we are trying to achieve through Battery Electric Vehicles and software integrations with our partners as well as some exciting new options for the future like the Renault Optimodale logistics solution, which is an electric van, cargo bike and drone in one.”
Attendees also had the option to step back in time and explore a captivating display of the Welch family heritage, as Chris and his team also used the day to showcase the evolution of the lorries that have been supplying Cambridgeshire businesses since 1934.
The day featured two of Welch’s vintage lorries, a Scammell from 1958 and Atkinson from 1975 , while guests enjoyed trips in Welch’s newest addition to its fleet: its 19-tonne Renault electric lorry.
