Comment: Changing home delivery rules can help us quit Russian diesel faster

Greg Archer and Morgan Jones of sustainable transport campaign group Transport and Environment comment on how the UK can quit Russian diesel imports fast, by focusing on the highest-mileage diesel vehicle users: fleets.

The West’s thirst for oil comes at a very high price. Last year the UK imported £3.3bn of oil from Russia, which supplies nearly a fifth of all the UK’s diesel. Each time we fill-up a tank of diesel we typically hand Putin – and his oligarchs – around £3 to £4, helping to bankroll the Russian onslaught of Ukraine and undermining our own security. 

Most of the diesel used in the UK is burned in transport – cars, vans and trucks. So how can we reduce our deadly diesel trade with Russia? The UK’s current plan to end the sale of new cars with combustion engines in 2030 and shift to new zero-emission-only cars and vans by 2035, and trucks by 2040, will accelerate the decline of diesel use. But changing the mix of cars on the road takes years, while we have weeks if we are to hit Putin in the pocket and help derail his assault on Ukraine and threats to our NATO allies. We need to act faster. 

The UK embargo of Russian oil that comes into force at the end of the year, will further squeeze the Russian economy and make it harder for Putin to fund his war. But overall, the main effect of the embargo is to shuffle oil supplies. Russia, along with many other corrupt and despotic regimes, will continue to be sustained by our oil addiction. 

The West’s Russian oil embargo would be far more effective if we didn’t simply replace Russian oil with other oil, but instead used a lot less of the stuff. This would help to reduce the oil price, the cost-of-living crisis, and feed fewer oil dollars to Russia and other regimes that undermine our security.  

Here are five simple steps that together can halve the amount of Russia’s dirty diesel used in our cars, vans and trucks this year – helping defund Russia’s war. 

1. Competition rules should be relaxed to allow haulage and delivery companies to collaborate to reduce empty running, increase loading and eliminate multiple daily deliveries. A home delivery tax with higher rates for same and next day deliveries would encourage online shoppers to reduce the frequency of deliveries. A reduction of just 2.5% in the number of truck and van movements would cut the UK’s diesel fuel use by the same amount.
2. Cutting the speed limit on motorways and enforcing a new limit of 60mph would save over 1.5% of diesel fuel. A 100-mile trip would take just over an hour and a half instead of just under – it’s a small price to pay.
3. Car sharing – many car trips can be shared with just a little organisation. Schools should be required to develop travel plans that connect parents and staff making a similar trip. School buses could be increased and more children could be encouraged to cycle. A quarter of car trips to school are typically avoided where school travel plans are implemented. This would deliver around a 1% reduction in UK transport diesel use with the added benefit of reducing local congestion. Businesses should also be asked to cut business travel and commuting by car and help employees to car share. Workplace travel plans typically save 14% of trips, so cutting just 10% of business and commuting miles is possible and would reduce UK transport diesel use by nearly 2%. Large employers should be required to develop and implement plans this year.
4. 7% of car trips are less than one mile and 24% less than two miles. If a quarter of these car trips could be walked or cycled, we would save over 0.5% of transport diesel. If, in addition, just 5% of car trips were switched onto public transport (and any additional services used electric buses) the saving in diesel would be about 1.25%. Government should use the £5 billion per year increase in VAT revenues from higher fuel prices in the last two years to subsidise public transport and reduce fares, rather than cutting diesel costs for the wealthy drivers of gas guzzlers.
5. The way we drive and maintain our cars also has a huge effect on the amount of fuel they consume.  By driving slower and more smoothly, correctly inflating the tires, removing unnecessary weight from car boots and regular maintenance savings of at least 5% and up to 10% are possible. A public awareness campaign should be started to teach drivers how to cut their fuel use and bills.

The combined effect of these five steps would be to reduce our total diesel imports within weeks by nearly 10%, halving the amount we currently receive from Russia, hugely accelerating the impact of the end-of-year Russian oil embargo. 

But there’s plenty more we could do to further reduce UK oil use.  More freight can be shifted onto rail, or cycle deliveries in urban areas. More bus lanes can speed up public transport, increasing its appeal. More cycle lanes will make it safer to ride. All these measures can complement the shift to electric vehicles. 

The answers to our long-term energy security are not sweetheart details with other oil despots, but permanent reductions in oil demand by getting a move on with the UK’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan. If we adopt the right measures, we can simultaneously tackle the triple threat of Russia, the cost-of-living crisis, and a climate catastrophe. Reducing oil demand is one such triple-win solution that no responsible government should ignore.