Visit from the Scottish Transport Minister

WE were lucky enough recently to welcome the Minister for Transport through our office doors on a sunny morning, to discuss the possibility of trialling new electric courier vans – and to learn a little more about the business.

As Scotland’s largest independent courier, we were very keen for Minister Humza Yousaf to meet the team and learn how we operate our 120 fleet of vehicles across the length and breadth of the country.

The Minister found talking to some of our youngest staff members, such as Samuel and Alana particularly enlightening, as both are highly-valued hard-working members of our team and great examples of the training and support we strive to offer.

After a tour of our office and an informal chat with the rest of the team we sat down with our Co-Directors Jerry and Fiona to discuss our day-to-day business and what the government could do to improve transport for all – as well as making it easier for responsible businesses to adopt the latest green technology.

One of Holyrood’s most ambitious plans is to make all Scottish towns and cities emission free by 2050. A challenging target to meet but there are already implementations in place for the promotion of electric vehicles, with the government offering a 35% discount on new electric cars with a 20% discount on vans.

At Eagle, the nature of our business sees our company fleet travelling across the country, sometimes in rural areas of the country.

We talked about how electric vans are fairing on the Scottish roads. Although these vehicles are the green alternative, we still voice our concerns about their suitability and affordability.

In order for Eagle to successfully use electric vehicles, charging points, the vehicles themselves and government support would have to improve before we can viably use electric vans as part of our fleet.

Positively, the Minister was respectful of this and incredibly positive about the future of electric vehicles in Scotland as well as our offer of providing feedback.

After the talks, it was time for a quick photo opportunity and a quick look at one of our team member, Scott Russell’s car – a fully-fledged Batmobile!

The Minister was even lucky enough to get a shot in the driving seat, although unfortunately was not taken for a spin. It seems that even if you are Transport Minister for Scotland, Batman’s car is solely for fighting crime!

We would like to thank the Minister for coming along and meeting the team and discussing how we can improve Scotland’s roads.

Hopefully it will help us take one step closer to our dream of a zero-carbon fleet serving across our beautiful country.