Chain Reaction Ep. 17: Sustainable Fleets, Smarter Supply Chains

Alan Livingston, Transport and Logistics Manager at A&M Insulation, has spent three decades learning how fleet operations actually work. Not in theory - in execution. From manual planning where dispatchers wrote routes on physical boards to AI-driven systems that optimise across eleven depots simultaneously. What Alan has learned is that sustainability in logistics isn't an add-on to existing systems. It requires rethinking the entire fleet model. Sustainability typically means fewer vehicles, better utilisation, lighter fuel consumption. This demands consolidation of routes, coordination across depots, visibility into shipment data so routing can be optimised. All the things traditional fleet operations resisted because they required change. Modern fleet operations can do this now because the data and systems exist. Alan's experience spanning manual to digital operations gives him perspective on what's genuinely changed and what's still dependent on operator discipline. For supply chain and logistics leaders managing fleet operations, Alan's conversation covers the practical path from traditional operations to sustainability-integrated models. It's not about buying electric vehicles - though that matters. It's about rethinking how you route, consolidate, and coordinate movement to use fewer vehicles more efficiently. That's where real sustainability and efficiency gains lie.