ONE OF the UK’s remaining family-run national greengrocers is aiming to cut emissions and boost fuel economy.
Reynolds, which began as a greengrocer in Hackney in 1945 and remains under family ownership has taken delivery of five Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor units fitted with Hultsteins Ecogen 2 refrigeration systems.
The company operates a fleet of 220 vehicles, comprising 30 vans and 190 HGVs, along with 21 trailers, all of which are refrigerated.
As part of its efforts to improve sustainability, the firm is cutting the emissions of its transport refrigeration units (TRUs) and diesel costs with the Ecogen 2 system that can be retrofitted to any tractor unit with an engine power take-off and converts existing diesel TRUs to run on electricity. It generates 400 volts and connects to the fridge motor via a five-pin plug, adapting TRUs to emissions-free.
“We’ve got 17 frontline trunking HGVs, so we decided that, on renewal, we would fit the Ecogen system to five Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor units, on contract hire from NRG Riverside,” said Steve White, Reynolds head of national fleet. “Obviously, there was the removal of the red diesel said subsidy on 1 April 2022, so that was a big incentive for us from a fuel-saving perspective.”
The tractor units have entered service and Steve estimates that each Ecogen 2 unit will save at least £5,000 per year in diesel costs and more than 1,900kg of CO2 per annum.
