Open Country transported billions of litres of milk from suppliers’ farms to its factories around New Zealand last season. That meant a lot of travelling for the company’s transport operators, whose job is to deliver the precious milk to the right place at the right time.
With that in mind, Open Country National Transport Manager, Brett Hamilton, says it makes sense for Open Country to use the most sustainable transport options possible.
The company is transitioning its tanker fleet to the new Euro 6 model of truck, in keeping with its company policy, and to improve its environmental footprint by creating fewer emissions and improve fuel efficiency by using less diesel.
“The dairy industry is an extremely important part of the global food chain and the New Zealand economy, and every avenue of that industry needs to look towards embracing the best technology to reduce our carbon footprint,” says Brett.
European emission rules, which are the foundation for the Euro 6 technology, were introduced in the early 1990s and the technology has worked its way up from a Euro 1 to the current Euro 6, so Brett.
“These new systems are 96 percent more efficient than the Euro 1 so that gives you an idea of how far the technology has come,” he adds.
Transitioning the entire fleet to the new trucks will also have a massive impact on the company’s fuel efficiency.
“Per 1 million kilometres travelled the trucks save around $50,000 on fuel, that’s a major cost saving alongside the environmental benefits,” says Brett.
Brett has estimated Open Country will save $150,000 to $180,000 a year on fuel in their Southland fleet alone.
The tankers are a big investment and are brought into New Zealand by distributors for Swedish based Scania and Daff, which comes out of Holland.
