HEPPNER GOES FURTHER IN ITS ENERGY TRANSITION BY SUPPORTING ITS PARTNERS
Rosny-sous-Bois, 13 October 2021 – With an ongoing commitment since 2010 to reducing its fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, after signing the Objective CO2 Charter, Heppner, as a creator of transport and logistics solutions, is now helping its partners in their own energy transition. Anticipating further tightening of the regulatory framework with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of human activities, the company has decided to transform this into a strength and asset for the entire industry.
The Energy Transition Pact: a win-win commitment
Heppner has drafted an Energy Transition Pact with the goal of sharing its fleet renewal policy with its partners and engaging them in it. Concluded for a minimum period of 5 years between the Group and the partners who join it, this preferential partnership enables independent, small and medium-sized companies in the transport industry to overcome the obstacles that arise in the process of replacing a diesel vehicle with an NGV vehicle.
Thus, the Pact allows companies to benefit from negotiated rates for the purchase or lease of new NGV vehicles from IVECO and to have easier access both to Heppner’s private filling stations and to public NGV-CNG stations. With this Pact, Heppner also commits to a long-term volume of transport operations with the partners involved. This essential point offers professionals a solid guarantee when purchasing a vehicle.
The agency managers played a key role in the Pact’s creation and promotion, meeting individually with all the interested partners to explain how it worked. Heppner has chosen proximity and support as the best approach for involving its trusted partners in this project.
“We made the decision several years ago to commit to reducing our carbon emissions. With a 12% reduction in 9 years, we decided to take the process a stage further and encourage our partners to join us, and so we launched the Energy Transition Pact. This project has enabled us to support small businesses that could not undertake an energy transition on their own, and it is another way to express our Raison d’Être: Foster the Enterprising Spirit“, explains Cédric Frachet, Heppner’s Land Operations Manager.
To date, more than 50 subcontractors have already signed up to Heppner’s Energy Transition Pact, and the goal is to achieve 100% low-emission routes in the Low Emission Zones (LEZs) by 2024.
At the same time, a dedicated Heppner team keeps a constant watch on future constraints and restrictions in the vicinity of each of its agencies, and also tracks the grants and subsidies available, both locally and nationwide. And to further assist those partners who wish to embark upon this path, a cost-benefit simulation tool has been developed to determine their possible return on investment.
A 15 million euro investment in a greener vehicle fleet
Convinced that tomorrow’s most successful companies will also be the most responsible, Heppner intends to meet the European Climate Package’s objective of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
Backed by a 15 million euro investment, the Group has decided to convert 50% of its vehicle fleet to natural gas vehicles (NGV) by 2025. As the best alternative to diesel, NGV enables both business needs and customer expectations to be met, satisfying the customers who want more environment-friendly deliveries. To address this challenge, the group is also setting up NGV filling stations in several of its agencies in France.
“This energy transition pact project is the continuation of a process that we started some time ago and which is now accelerating due to the rapid increase in the number of Low Emission Zones. This new stage has been very well received by our employees and partners, who extol the benefits of NGV: smoother, quieter driving… The opening of our first private NGV filling station in Le Mans, in April, is a first step towards democratising the use of NGV, in that we have not only involved our agencies but are also reaching out to our partners and subcontractors,” adds Noémie Feldbauer, Manager of the Heppner Group’s Energy Transition Programme.
