This item appeared in the ‘Connecting Malta to mainland Europe’ supplement by ATTO published with The Sunday Times of Malta on April 7, 2024
Express Trailers is currently preparing for the auditing procedures required by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and should be ready to comply from 2025.
“To comply with the CSRD, Express Trailers is evaluating its ESG policies, environmental; performance, health and safety, supply chain management, and the company structures from the governance and risk management aspects. This exercise is in full swing and we should be ready to comply with the ESG directive as of next year,” explains Etienne Attard, the company’s CEO.
Etienne Attard explained how external factors such as increasing fuel prices, inflationary costs, toll increases on Europe’s roads and greater pressures to conform with more sustainable operations had long moved Express Trailers to seek more sustainable operations.
“The company was visionary enough to start its sustainability journey way back in 2015 when, knowing that our commitment to sustainability starts from our huge fleet of trailers which operates across all of Europe, we started investing to replace our fleet from EURO V to EURO VI.”
“Lately, we invested again in our fleet’s upgrade to further improve the levels of emissions and we are using the technology to enhance the safety and comfort of our drivers. We are doing this in cooperation with our truck manufacturers to ensure that these new vehicles are optimised according to our specific operations.”
“And besides the fact that all our trailers are regularly inspected and maintained at our local facility to ensure that they adhere to the local and EU road regulations, we also host specialised driving courses by professional instructors for our drivers on how to drive better and more efficiently.”
This investment by Express Trailers is being made in parallel with several other initiatives across the company in line with ESG requirements which include regular training for all employees at the company’s LOGIC Training Centre and other designated locations.
Express Trailers is already achieving interesting results in terms of energy efficiency and reductions in fuel consumption and emissions with the company’s Fleet Management System providing some very interesting data.
“Despite in years 2022 and 2023 our fleet covered millions of kilometres we have seen significant improvement in fuel consumption and reduction in carbon dioxide. Thanks to our investment in our fleet, we managed to reduce our fuel consumption significantly when viewed in terms of CO2 savings, which amounts to a reduction in emissions of 66 tons,” notes Attard.
Attard explains that these savings not only helped the company to contain its costs throughout 2023 but also contributed towards the attainment of better emission standards.
“And now, with our Genoa Logistics Hub complete and fully operational, we are managing to offer the same services with fewer trips and therefore, with less fuel consumption. Today, our operations are already much more sustainable.”
Attard explains how Express Trailers is looking at new ways to reduce its carbon emissions and is exploring the use of rail transport in its operations across its European network.
“Road transport comes with its pressures and challenges. For cargo to reach Malta, one would typically look at weekly round trips of nearly 3000 km. So, the advantages of rail transport are quite clear: operational costs are lower, the capacities are larger, we can enjoy better lead times, flexibility and obviously, consume much less fuel.”
Express Trailers believes that by incorporating rail transport into its overseas operations, the company stands to achieve further reductions in CO2 emissions.
“Express Trailers always represented the highest benchmark in transport and logistics. In terms of sustainability, we aspire to confirm ourselves as leaders and to date, if there’s a company that is leading, that’s definitely us,” concludes Attard.