With pump prices soaring in the wake of conflict in the Middle East, council fleet budgets are under mounting pressure. But are the events of recent months a crisis to be managed – or a catalyst for change? LAPV speaks to Neil Wallis, Communications Adviser at Zemo Partnership, about what the numbers say and what fleet managers can do now.
Iain Fortune, Fleet Operations and Transport Compliance Manager at South Gloucestershire Council, on duty-cycle planning, the infrastructure challenge, and where local authority fleet managers are leaving the biggest savings on the table.
Aberdeen’s hydrogen bus withdrawal highlights a wider lesson for councils: ambitious net zero goals must be matched by commercially viable infrastructure. As authorities invest in zero-emission fleets, the challenge is no longer proving technology works but ensuring it can scale under real-world financial and operational pressures, says Mike Nakrani, CEO of VEV.
