Sheffield council invests millions to upgrade its vehicles ahead of clean air zone
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It has not invested in the majority of its fleet for at least four years and hopes the £8.5 million upgrade will address a number of problems and save £3.3 million in the process.
Council officers said: "This scheme seeks to begin to address the excessive age of Sheffield Council’s vehicle and plant fleet.
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Hide Ad“With the exception of our in-sourced repairs and maintenance service, we have not invested in the remainder of our fleet for at least four years, longer in some cases. This is leading to increased revenue repair costs and leasing costs for the council."
It is a six-year project that started last year with replacing the most polluting vehicles - a total of 226. The total cost of that came to £5.2m, which is borrowed and will be repaid over a five-year period and save an estimated £2.1m in reduced maintenance costs.
This year the scheme focuses on making all the vehicles compliant with the proposed clean air zone, which will force drivers to get a Euro 6 engine or face daily charges of between £10 and £50. This phase will see a further 137 of the fleet upgraded and cost £3.3m over five years, with an expected saving of £1.2m.
The issues with current council vehicles include "excessive" increases in maintenance costs, high emissions that add to poor air quality and an average age of eight years - which they aim to reduce to three or four.
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