Van fleets need to look carefully at the impact of Euro 6 emissions requirements on payloads before replacing older vehicles.

Leasing and fleet management company Arval says that there can easily be a 40-50kg penalty on a Euro 6 van over Euro 5 due to the additional equipment required to meet the recently-introduced emission legislation.

“That kind of difference can mean that your previous vehicle choice is no longer suitable for your needs and automatically selecting the Euro 6 version of one of your established fleet vehicles may not be the right choice.

“We have come across several fleets that have hit this problem, with the payload difference creating operational issues for them simply because the newer vans can’t carry as much,” said Simon Cook, LCV consultant at Arval.

The issue was especially sensitive around the 3,500kg point, Cook added, where the loss of payload could be substantial but where moving to a larger vehicle meant encountering a range of other operational issues.

“If your preferred 3.5 tonne van has lost noticeable payload under Euro 6 and you want to opt-for a slightly bigger heavier vehicle to compensate, you may find yourself having to handle a whole raft of additional legislative responsibilities, which many fleets will consider undesirable,” he explained.

For some fleets the issue can be resolved by selecting a different vehicle. For others, payload can be regained by using lighter racking or carrying less equipment.

In more extreme cases the best solution could be to replace one vehicle with two smaller ones.