Royal Mail spends £70m on new vans

Royal Mail has taken delivery of 8,500 small vans, a £70m investment, as part of its modernisation strategy.

The operator says the vehicles, a combination of Peugeot Bippers and Vauxhall Combos, will allow longer, more flexible, delivery routes to manage an increase in packets volumes.

Paul Wilkes, fleet and maintenance services at Royal Mail Logistics, says it had already been operating Combos in its 29,000-vehicle van fleet, “but we introduced the Bippers to cover routes where only a single postperson is required, generally on rural deliveries”.

He adds that a further 7,500 car-derived vans (mainly Combos), will also be added to the fleet.