21 ÓCentre for Economics and Business Research This is supported by more recent data (2017) from the Admiral Insurance survey. This shows that for men (fewer than 5% of vans are registered to women according to the Guardian24), the top five roles25 for van drivers are: · Builder · Carpenter · Company director · Electrician · Painter and decorator These other trades are also popular among Admiral Van Insurance customers: · Joiners · Plumbers · Gardeners · Firefighters · Tree surgeons The changing face of the van driver26 in the UK as a result of online activity (and presumably given a boost by the pandemic) makes them critical to the operation of the economy. A Cebr study for Ford to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Transit Van showed that van-dependent businesses contributed a total of €584 billion to the major economies of France, Germany, and the U.K. in 2014 – an increase of 16 per cent compared with 2010, and an amount approaching the overall economy of Switzerland. Because vans are predominantly used for conveying goods or tools there is very little scope to replace them. We have done two calculations of the cost of a 12p increase in fuel duty for van drivers. The first assumes the DfT van usage of 13,500 miles a year, which might be typical for a builder who uses the van to get to a job and then to collect items during the day, the cost a 12p hike in fuel duty is £221 per annum. For a van used full time – say a 3.5 tonnes van doing 40,000 miles per annum which is the sort of usage for the likes of DPD, DHL, Parcelforce – the annual cost of a 12p rise in duty would be £970. The most basic plug in hybrid Ford Transit costs £ £47,814 27 according to the Green Car Guide, roughly twice that of an ICE fuelled equivalent so given the limited electric only range hybrid or electric vans probably are not yet economic in most applications. 24 https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/15/white-van-nation-drivers-behind-on-demand-economy 25 https://www.admiral.com/magazine/guides/van/who-drives-britains-vans 26 Economics of Commercial Van Usage Across Europe, a new report compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). 27 https://www.greencarguide.co.uk/car-reviews-and-road-tests/ford-transit-custom-plug-in-hybrid-review/
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