{"id":8432,"date":"2016-02-26T16:34:56","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T16:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=8432"},"modified":"2016-02-26T16:34:56","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T16:34:56","slug":"could-you-save-15k-a-year-with-five-vans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/8432","title":{"rendered":"Could you save \u00a315k a year with five vans?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newport-based outsourced service provider Smart Solutions believes that replacing five of its mixed fleet with five new Mercedes-Benz Citan vans, it will reduce annual diesel costs by \u00a315,000.<\/p>\n

\"Smart<\/p>\n

If you’re not used to the costs of running a vehicles that are in use 365 days a year, then this might seem ambtious. However, when you break it down, a \u00a315,000 saving spread across five vans equates to \u00a38.22 per day, or perhaps 9 litres of diesel, excluding VAT.<\/p>\n

It’s probably fair to say that Smart Solutions wouldn’t achieve these savings if it was switching from a comparable small van such as a Citroen Berlingo, but it’s not. The Citans will be replacing a mixed fleet, including some 4x4s. These tend to be much heavier on fuel and given that they will be used for security and cleaning duties — which require entail relatively high daily mileages — Smart Solutions’ forecast savings seem quite plausible.<\/p>\n

Operations Director Steve Hancock said that having previously operated an assortment of vans and 4×4 cars, the company had now resolved to consolidate its fleet around a single marque.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking to achieve a degree of standardisation and approached several manufacturers, with reliability, mpg performance, servicing and image all high on our list of priorities,\u201d he said. \u201cEuro Commercials provided Citan and mid-size Vito demonstration units for trial, and we felt both represented excellent value for money.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taken the wheel myself and the Citan has a nice, comfortable driving position, while the crew van specification means we can also use these vehicles to transport teams of staff to contract locations \u2013 our previous van supplier does not offer a similarly-sized van with a second row of seats.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Smart Solutions’ Citans are 90 hp 109 CDI models, which have a combined cycle economy figure of up 61.4 mpg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of fuel-efficiency the Citan represents a big improvement on our previous vehicles, particularly the 4x4s,\u201d observed Mr Hancock. \u201cWe expect these Mercedes-Benz vans to save us around \u00a315,000 a year in fuel costs.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Smart Solutions was founded in 2007 by Chief Executive Nathan Bowles, and achieved sales in its first year of \u00a3262,000. By 2010 it was the fastest-growing firm in Wales, since when it has maintained its relentless progress \u2013 turnover for the last financial year reached a new high of \u00a382 million.<\/p>\n

Highlights of the last financial year for Smart Solutions included the openings of new offices in Chester, Leicester and Norwich, and the multi-million pound acquisition of specialist recruitment business Right Direction UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newport, Wales-based Smart Solutions has purchased 5 Mercedes-Benz Citan vans to replace a mix of vans and 4x4s. The firm expects to save \u00a315,000 per year on diesel as a result of buying the new vans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[1324,1935],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8435,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432\/revisions\/8435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}