Incredibly reliable over the course of 11 years and more than 225,000 miles
FleetPoint investigate how LPG kept one man’s courier business afloat through economic instability
Economic instability rarely provides any small business with an opportunity to pass on lower costs to customers and stay afloat at the same time, but logistics entrepreneur and self-styled ‘man with a van’ Andy McGarvey is one of the few to manage it – primarily thanks to the financial savings his courier business has made running his Ford Transit on cheaper LPG autogas.
Andy’s van was supplied with a factory-fitted LPG system when he bought it with 10 miles on the clock in 2003. In the 11 years since then, he’s racked up a further 225,000 miles on regular jobs travelling between his Preston base and London – and has saved more than £20,000 in fuel costs compared to running the equivalent petrol or diesel model.
“When the recession hit, I was able to cut my prices because I was using LPG,” says Andy. “At the time I also had a diesel Mercedes Sprinter 311CDI with about 50 per cent more loadspace than the Transit, but everyone went for the cheaper Ford, because it cost less even if it needed two trips that the Mercedes could have done in one.”
Explaining what attracted him to the LPG-powered Transit in the first place, Andy explains: “As a logistics company I’m always looking for new opportunities to cut costs. I also need to know if it will work, if it will do half a million miles!”
Since he purchased it, the Transit has delivered on those expectations in spades – not only has it saved Andy a huge amount of money but it has proved incredibly reliable over the course of 11 years and more than 225,000 miles. With a laugh, Andy admits: “I’ve had to call the AA out maybe 30 times because the door lock has jammed, and only once for the LPG – and that was only because we’d run out of petrol it uses to start up before switching to gas!”
Andy goes on to make an even bolder claim for the benefit LPG autogas has given him. “LPG costs me about half what petrol or diesel would,” he begins. “To get to north London from Preston is 230 miles, which costs £38 on gas but would cost £80 in petrol. The last six years have been very tough financially and without the big savings I’ve made using LPG I’d have gone bust. I’ve kept my head above water thanks to LPG – so it’s no exaggeration to say it’s been a real lifesaver for me.”
It’s hardly necessary to ask Andy if he plans to carry on using LPG autogas, so obvious is his keenness for the fuel. He beams: “I’ll use it until the day I die. I think it’s the greatest thing, and I don’t know if the person who invented it is still with us but I take my hat off to them. The only exception I’d make would be if I won the lottery, then I’d have an electric Mercedes SLS.”
Even then, Andy wouldn’t part with his trusty LPG Transit. “If I get a nice apartment in Manchester I’ll take the van apart and put it together again in there – it would make a great office.”
