Van fleets need to look carefully at the impact of Euro 6 emissions requirements on payloads before replacing older vehicles.

Arval, a leading vehicle leasing and fleet management company, says that there can easily be a 40-50kg penalty on a 3500kg vehicle meeting Euro 6 over Euro 5 thanks to the additional equipment fitted by the manufacturer to meet the recently-introduced emission legislation. Simon Cook, LCV Consultant at Arval, explained: “That kind of difference can mean that your previous vehicle choice is no longer suitable for your needs and automatically selecting the Euro 6 version of one of your established fleet vehicles may not be the right choice. “We have come across several fleets that have hit this problem, with the payload difference creating operational issues for them simply because the newer vans can’t carry as much.”

The issue was especially sensitive around the 3,500kg point, Simon added, where the loss of payload could be substantial but where moving to a larger vehicle meant encountering a range of other operational issues. “If your preferred 3.5 tonne van has lost noticeable payload under Euro 6 and you want to opt-for a slightly bigger heavier vehicle to compensate, you may find yourself having to handle a whole raft of additional legislative responsibilities, which many fleets will consider undesirable.” Simon said that there were a range of solutions to the problem that Arval had been considering alongside affected fleets.

“For some, it is an issue that can be resolved simply by selecting a different vehicle. For others, payload can be regained by, for example, using lighter racking or carrying less equipment. For some, the best solution will even be to replace one vehicle with two smaller ones. Each of these routes are suitable for certain fleets with specific operational needs. It is a question of sitting down and examining the options in a structured fashion, something in which our LCV consultants are highly experienced.”