Artisan Coffee Supplier Replaces Diesel Delivery Van
We provided a high-capacity electric utility vehicle to a local roastery for daily city-centre deliveries. They eliminated diesel fuel costs and completely avoided the local low-emission zone charges during peak hours.
Bold Street Roasters needed a reliable way to deliver fresh beans to 43 cafes across Liverpool's central business district every morning. Their old diesel van was costing £420 a month in fuel alone, plus they faced daily clean-air charges when entering emission zones. By moving to our shared electric van fleet, they cut logistics costs down to a simple, pay-as-you-use pricing model.
The challenge
The roastery, based in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle on Jamaica Street, operates on tight daily schedules. Roasted coffee beans must reach local coffee shops within 24 hours of roasting to guarantee freshness. Their 2012 diesel van was becoming a liability—not only did it break down twice during May 2024, but it also incurred a penalty fee every time it crossed into restricted zones near Hanover Street.
Logistics coordinator Callum Finch was spending 4.57 hours a week manually plotting routes to avoid these zone charges. On top of that, maintaining the old diesel engine was eating into their margin, with a garage bill of £312.40 just for a radiator hose replacement. They needed a reliable utility vehicle that was fully clean-air zone compliant, without the heavy burden of leasing or buying a brand-new electric commercial vehicle.
Our approach
Our operations team analyzed Bold Street Roasters' actual delivery routes over a 14-day trial period. We noticed their delivery run starts at exactly 6:30 AM and finishes by 10:15 AM, leaving the vehicle idle for the rest of the day. Paying a monthly lease for a van that sits parked 19 hours out of 24 made no financial sense for a small business.
We proposed our shared-fleet model instead of outright ownership. They would reserve one of our high-capacity electric vans parked at our Cook Street hub. They could unlock it using our mobile app at 6:15 AM, load the coffee crates, make their 17 daily drops, and return it by noon. This completely bypassed the need for a dedicated parking space at their roastery, which costs an extra £145 per month in Liverpool city centre.
The solution
We assigned one of our electric utility vans for their exclusive reservation window every Monday to Friday. The van features a 280-mile real-world range and a massive 4.2-cubic-metre cargo space, which easily handles the heavy coffee sacks and metal retail canisters. Our team also installed the Fanseek app on three of their delivery drivers' phones, setting up secure digital keys that work via Bluetooth.
Now, the drivers do not have to pick up physical keys from an office or sign paper logbooks. They walk up to the vehicle, unlock with your phone, run a quick, 30-second digital pre-inspection on the app, and drive off. No desks, no paperwork. We charge a simple hourly rate with zero maintenance fees, and they can track every mile in the app. (By the way, their drivers actually prefer the quiet electric motor during early morning loading runs.)
Results
After five months of operation, Bold Street Roasters reduced their total delivery costs by 31% while maintaining an 99.4% on-time delivery record across all 43 active cafe accounts. They completely eliminated their diesel fuel bill and avoided all low-emission zone penalty notices.
Timeline
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June 2024Conducted a 14-day route and idle-time audit of their Baltic Triangle delivery van.
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July 2024Set up the digital key profiles on three drivers' phones and ran a 1-day loading trial.
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August 2024Replaced the diesel van completely and transitioned to 6:15 AM shared electric van bookings.
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November 2024Pulled fleet telemetry data showing 1.24 tonnes of carbon saved over 187 delivery runs.
"We spent years worrying about diesel charges in Liverpool. Moving to Fanseek's shared electric van cut our running costs by almost a third. The app took our drivers about two days to get used to, but now we wouldn't go back."