Sainsbury’s (the place where good food costs less----unless you're like me and spend too much time in the wine section) has just bagged itself a new fleet of Mercedes Axor tractors. It seems that the supermarket giant was so impressed with its first consignment of 130 Axor 2540s, which went on the road late last year, it's now ordered another 200. How many shopping points is that worth I wonder?

The Euro 5 artics all qualify for a £500 VED reduction thanks to a Reduced Pollution Certificate-----and come with the latest Mercedes PowerShift 12-speed auto box which should keep their drivers happy. And to "top off" the high-tech package, "each unit also wears the latest air management kit, developed specifically for the Axor by specialist firm Hatcher Components in conjunction with experts from Cranfield University."

And for good reason too as according to the PR blurb: " In tests this has been shown to deliver a remarkable 6% improvement in fuel consumption over a vehicle with standard air management equipment – figures from real-life applications have delivered similarly impressive results."

The new trucks are owned by Sainsbury’s but operated on its behalf by Wincanton. They will work from regional distribution centres across the country supplying the full range of goods stocked by Sainsbury’s network of almost 800 stores, which together serve more than 16 million customers every week. And for all you stat fans: "...The total fleet numbers around 1,000 trucks which between them travelled 164 million km last year."

“We buy vehicles from other manufacturers too,” Sainsbury’s Engineering Controller Gary King tells Biglorryblog. “But after completing a full-blown tender exercise, which examined all aspects of vehicle costs over a life of four years, we found that the Mercedes Axor was the most cost-effective of all the SCR-equipped options."

Now read on to find out why Sainsbury's went straight to Euro-5 and a very green warehouse...

“Once you’ve decided to head down the SCR route the next obvious step is to go directly to Euro 5 – it’s really a ‘no-brainer’." King adds. "Choosing Euro 5 vehicles with NOx sensors not only helps us to minimise our impact on the environment but means they will retain significantly more residual value. This, together with the reduction in VED and its excellent fuel economy, helps to make the Axor’s whole-life cost even more attractive.”

As the ‘greenest’ trucks on the Sainsbury’s fleet, 63 of the new Axor are operating out of the company’s new flagship distribution centre near Northampton, at Junction 15a of the M1. The 618,500 sq ft facility was completed in October 2007 and has already won a host of environmental awards. And it's a 'green' warehouse too, boasting such features as a combined heat and power plant, with surplus heat driving the refrigeration of the cold store areas, low energy lighting systems, electricity-generating solar panels on the roof and walls. What's more an extremely airtight construction helps maintain the interior temperature and a roof made from 15% cent transparent panels, maximises the available natural light. Last but not least a "rainwater harvesting system" capable of saving 16 million litres of water per year has also been devised, while there is also an on-site Resource Recycling Unit.