Following the government's annoncement that diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned from 2040, Peter Millichap, UK director of marketing at Teletrac Navman, says the impact of this will be huge but points out that there are measures transport companies can take to reduce emissions right now.

News that diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned from 2040 as part of efforts to tackle air pollution has hit headlines everywhere.

While we welcome any measures which help combat pollution and improve air quality, it raises many questions in terms of how it will be implemented.

For example, will we have the infrastructure to cater for all UK road users to drive electric vehicles in just 23 years? This will mean getting rid of all fuel stations and installing enough public charging points across the country.

While this would be a significant achievement and very logically progressive, the practicalities and costs of implementing this will be in the billions.

We will find out more in terms of how the Government plans to subsidise petrol and diesel vehicle owners and encourage this shift towards greener vehicles but it will undoubtedly be a transition which will have a huge impact on transport companies across the UK, as well as impacting the everyday road user.

In the meantime, there are measures that can be taken to meet compliance standards and help reduce emissions through the implementation of telematics technology; helping to reduce fuel consumption through route optimisation and software which can monitor maintenance needs.