It's February And The Low Emmissions Zone Could Be Poisonous To Your Pocket!

As of the 3rd of January 2012 vehicles that didn't comply with new emission zone standards needed to be modified or replaced in order to operate in this area which covers most of Greater London. Failure to do this will result in a hefty fine of up to £1,000. But in the best tradition of the great Linford Christie the authorities managed to get ahead of themselves, and the date when fines start was extended by a month, until February 3, which of course is now.
At Pimlico our customer base has been built over more than 30 years from those that live in London so we had no other option but to convert a quarter of our vehicles on our fleet. That's 40 of our 160 vehicles that did not meet the new requirements meaning that we've had to spend in excess of £150,000 getting a specialist Volkswagen fitter to install new LEZ compliant exhaust filters to each one. A month ago we were pretty close to meeting the original deadline, so things are pretty much under control, although a parts holdup means anyone driving a certain van out of the garage might end up with a rather large deduction from their pay!
Obviously we won't let that happen; think we better take the wheels off just to make sure there no unexpected fines. Jokes aside modifying or replacing vehicles is (and has been) a massive expense and what with the Congestion Charge as well these tough new rules could result in London becoming a no go area for many tradesmen! With all the other costs of doing businesses it's a struggle for any tradesmen and firms to reinvest in transport, be it a single van or an entire fleet, in the current climate as it is a very costly, time consuming and daunting task. This is another obstacle for businesses to overcome but if your company relies on vehicles being able to operate in London and you haven’t made the relevant changes it is imperative that you do it quickly as it looks like they are serious about the fines this time round.