Transport

Australia Post handles more than 5 billion articles of mail every year. All mail is transported by road at some stage of the delivery process, and often on multiple types of vehicle.

Our fleet comprises more than 10,000 vehicles including motorcycles, cars, vans, small and large trucks and prime movers and generates approximately 28% of Australia Post's greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing the environmental impacts of our transport

We have been actively investigating opportunities to reduce our fuel consumption as part of our standard business practice over many years and more recently through our participation in the Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) program.

The table below outlines our key initiatives to reduce the environmental impacts of our fleet.

Fleet configuration	We are constantly reviewing our fleet configuration to increase the efficiency of our delivery service. This includes route optimisation, network reviews, increasing mail volumes per trip, increasing the use of trailers and upgrading the fleet with more emission-efficient vehicles. Since 1998 we have added 70 B-Doubles to our fleet (prime movers that tow two semi-trailers). These vehicles have increased carrying capacity thereby reducing the number of trips taken. This has led to a saving of 18,000 kilolitres of fuel: approximately 49,000 tonnes of CO2-e (carbon dioxide equivalent).
Hybrid trucks	Two hybrid trucks were introduced to the fleet in 2007. The hybrid truck has both electric and diesel engines, which can reduce fuel consumption by around 25%. This has resulted in savings of more than 1000 litres of diesel fuel and approximately 3.54 tonnes of CO2-e per truck per year.
GreenFleet	We continue to participate in the GreenFleet program - a not-for-profit organisation that plants trees on behalf of companies to offset their vehicle emissions. We are currently offsetting emissions of 100 vehicles and saving approximately 430 tonnes of CO2-e annually.
Vehicle emissions	Our heavy vehicle fleet mainly comprises Euro 4 vehicles - the current Australian standard for exhaust emissions. We are committed to a 5-year contract for the supply of heavy vehicles that are compliant with Euro 5 standards. In 2009 we purchased 5 Euro 5 prime moves and 13 rigid trucks and aim for our entire linehaul fleet to be Euro 5 within 6 years. These vehicles will significantly reduce the amount of diesel particulate matter produced.
Reduced oil consumption	In conjunction with Shell Australia, we carried out a 2-year trial to investigate the potential to extend the time between total oil changes to try to extend the useful life of the oil. Results show that oil service drain intervals in rigid trucks and vans can be extended by up to 30%. The intervals will be extended for all new Euro 4 and 5 vehicles purchased.
Passenger fleet evaluation	In 2007, we reviewed our passenger fleet in terms of the life-cycle of the vehicle including purpose, size, fuel type and overall economy. As a result of the review, we developed a "fit-for-purpose" strategy, which allocates the most appropriate and efficient vehicle to each role. We also completed a preferred supplier agreement with Toyota for the supply of new cars, including a number of hybrid vehicles. We plan to replace the majority of our passenger vehicles with the more efficient models by 2016. Once complete, this will deliver around 1.5 million litres of fuel savings per year and more than 3,400 tonnes of CO2-e.
Electric vehicles	We are investigating the potential to introduce electric tricycles and other electric load carrying devices to our delivery fleet. The devices are virtually pollution-free, quieter than traditional postie motorcycles, increase driver safety and use rechargeable ion batteries. The bikes are being trialled throughout New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.