Door Industry Journal - Summer 2021

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Industry News THE door industry journal summer 2021 11 Interestingly, this ratio is in fact smaller than when compared to pre-pandemic activity. This indicates that during the course of the pandemic, the sector used smaller, petrol-fuelled vehicles to visit clients, for example, while transportation of manufactured goods was at a reduced rate. UK businesses, then and now Although activity in the manufacturing industry is creeping back up to pre-pandemic travel, as a whole, this sector is still driving 20 million miles less than it was at the start of 2020, indicating that the UK economy is still in a state of recovery. Overall fuel usage before the pandemic averaged between 1.1 and 1.2 billion miles per month, whilst during the course of the 12 months between March 2020 and March 2021, this fluctuated between 495 million miles and just over 1 billion miles per month. These dips show the uncertainty that industries such as logistics, construction, and manufacturing, have been through - although much of their work has been deemed essential, as demand decreased businesses have experienced economic struggles. What’s next for the manufacturing industry Throughout the last 12 months, we have seen an increase in the use of cars and vans in the manufacturing industry, so, will businesses ramp up on their use of larger diesel vehicles once again? Or have businesses spotted some benefits of utilising smaller vehicles for their operations and will cars and vans become more common? If businesses do continue to use smaller vehicles, it is likely that we will see a rise in the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). While manufacturers’ use of alternatively-fuelled vehicles remained relatively stable over the past year, our insights have revealed that alternative fuels are slowly making their way into businesses’ fleets. Overall, the use of these fuels has doubled from February 2020 to February 2021 – a clear indicator that the transition is picking up pace. Reinforcing the idea of an alternatively-fuelled future is the government’s Road to Zero strategy for transitioning to zero-emission road transport by 2030. This will ban new petrol and diesel cars and vans from being sold in the UK from 2030, and includes considerations for heavy goods vehicles too, so businesses should be sure to factor this into their future plans for their fleets. Ultimately, while the pandemic has of course meant that many businesses have been forced to acclimatise to the restrictions put in place throughout the pandemic, activity has not ground to a halt for the industry. Instead, operations have adapted to ensure that work can still be carried out where possible. And now, with restrictions lifting and the economy starting to recover, the miles travelled by the manufacturing industry will undoubtedly continue to rise to pre-pandemic rates. To learn more about solutions that will help, visit: www.allstarcard.co.uk/ About the author Paul Holland is Managing Director for UK Fuel at FLEETCOR. Having joined in August 2009, he has held a variety of positions. He first joined FLEETCOR as Executive Vice President for Corporate Development. He then spent a year as Managing Director of International Partners, before spending three years as Managing Director of FLEETCOR’s business activities in Australasia. Before joining FLEETCOR, Paul served as Managing Director at Fuelserv, before joining ReD Fuel Cards as Managing Director, a position he held for four years. For more information about FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc. visit www.fleetcor.com . 1 https://www.allstarcard.co.uk/media/514048/allstar-barometer2021_v2.pdf