SME Fleet Analysis Support Guidance

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Overview

There is a global climate emergency, and we all have a part to play in tackling it. The haulage and logistics sector in Scotland plays an important role in supporting our economy and our society by ensuring that we can move goods with speed and efficiency. This sector emits a disproportionate share of road transport emissions and must be a priority focus to help Scotland meet its climate change targets.

The Scottish Government is currently working on the next Climate Change Plan, identifying what actions will be taken up to 2040 to reduce road transport emissions. In the short term, many hauliers in Scotland operate small fleets and want to decarbonise their operations. We need to put plans and strategies in place to collaboratively pursue and achieve this. Learning from what has been successful in driving decarbonisation for other sectors and identifying where these tools and approaches can be deployed for heavy good vehicles (HGVs) is key.

The Scottish Government is looking to learn from experiences in the bus decarbonisation sector to help create impactful and self-sustaining change in the HGV market in Scotland. We have seen where operators, manufacturers, financiers and the energy sector work together to accelerate the market and uptake of zero emission vehicles and infrastructure. This funding aims to apply a similar approach to that seen in the preparatory stages of Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund.

The Funding

The funding is designed to support Scotland’s HGV SME and micro-business fleets to better understand their pathways to decarbonisation. Financial support is being offered to help hauliers assess their current and future fleet plans, what viable technologies, grid-connections, routes, infrastructure and vehicles best suit their operational needs.

It is expected that the funding will produce a report which is shared with the haulier and with Transport Scotland. If the report contains commercially sensitive information a publishable version is expected in addition to the main report which can be shared with other fleets in order to support sector-wide understanding and confidence in the transition.

The report should provide both the fleet operator and Transport Scotland with an understanding of what the short, medium and long-term solutions for decarbonising the HGVs in the fleet are. This should include commentary on technology shift, energy requirements, use of shared infrastructure, timelines by which each vehicle/route type would be zero-emission, new viable financing options such as truck-as-a-service or energy-as-a-service which may enable adoption earlier.

There is an upper limit of £20,000 offered for the report. Any additional costs will need to be met by the haulier or consultancy involved in the project. The funding will be open for applications between 9^th July 2025 and 9^th December 2025. Applicants can apply for funding at any point during this window, and Transport Scotland will endeavour to respond within 10 working days. From the point of a Grant Offer Letter being issued, the Grantee will have approximately 12 weeks to complete the report. All funding must be claimed before 31^st March 2026.

This document provides guidance to applicants wishing to apply for this funding.

Eligibility

You are eligible to apply for this fund if you:

1. are an HGV fleet operator with less than 50 HGVs with the main registered office or headquarters based in Scotland.

Operators/subsidiaries under the same ownership/parent group will be considered as one company for the purposes of this funding. Only one application per group (parent company and subsidiaries within this) will be eligible. The group are eligible if:

1. the total number of HGVs held within the group is <50; and
2. the total group headcount is <250 and annual turnover is under €50 million.

In accepting the funding you agree to:

1. the publication of a report concerning the make-up and operational needs of your fleet (you can agree for a publishable and non-publishable version to be produced if concerned about commercial sensitivity);
2. agree that your business is open to collaboration with other key stakeholders in the HGV sector – including other fleets (HGV, bus, coach, etc.), chargepoint operators, financiers and manufacturers;
3. agree to being put in contact with financiers, manufacturers and other operators who are seeking to develop business cases for transitioning Scotland’s HGV fleets;
4. agree to consider the findings of the report produced and take steps where possible to implement zero-emission technology into the business.

On completion of the report and evidence provided to Transport Scotland, successful applicants can claim their grant funding. Claims can only be submitted on receipt of completed work. The claim value cannot exceed the amount agreed in the Grant Offer Letter, or the subsidy cap of £20,000, whichever is lower.

The eligible costs that an applicant can claim are:

1. Procurement of appropriate analytical support and report planning, assessment and development.

The ineligible costs include:

1. any value added tax (VAT) reclaimable by the grantee;
2. costs not directly supporting the grant purpose.

Report Expectations and Process

It is expected that the SME haulier will work with a consultancy, university, or analytical partner to develop the report. You should attach as evidence to your application form at least two quotes you have secured for this work with your preference option and why.

The report should provide the SME haulier with an assessment of the zero-emission technology and approach to HGV decarbonisation that would best suit their business; and how, and when, this may be implemented. This should include:

1. Current assessment of operational activities;
2. Existing fleet requirements;
3. Vehicle requirements and availability;
4. Charging infrastructure requirements and local grid availability;
5. Analysis of fleet transition, total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis and identification of vehicles and routes that can be transitioned over time (short term 1-3 years, medium term 3-5 years, long term 5-10 years).
6. Assessment of how decarbonisation could be financed by the fleet;
7. Opportunities for collaboration to support fleet transition.

Collaborative working is encouraged, so applications which have sought the input or collaboration with neighbouring businesses, chargepoint operators or financiers would be received favourably.

All successful applicants will be required to provide Transport Scotland with:

1. An update within 4 weeks of signing of grant offer letter that the fleet analysis support procurement has commenced;
2. An interim report mid-way through analysis (full analysis is expected to take between 8-12 weeks);
3. On receipt of final fleet analysis report, share copy with Transport Scotland that will both be published and amalgamated with other reporting to inform future charging infrastructure forecasts and development. Should the full report contain commercially sensitive information, two versions should be provided, with one able to be published to support broader sectoral learning. Transport Scotland will not publish commercially sensitive information, but may use information provided when developing future policy.

The supplier should be aware of, and make relevant reference to wider work that will support the evidence base for this activity. This includes:

1. Zero Emission Truck Taskforce
2. Bus Market Transition Scheme
3. Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce
4. Towards Zero Emission HGV Infrastructure in Scotland

Fair Work First Requirements

The application form (‘Fair Work First Pro-Forma’) will ask you to complete a pro-forma on the Fair Work First requirements. If you are unclear on what information you need to provide, Transport Scotland will support you with completion of the Fair Work First evidence.

Fair Work First is the Scottish Government's flagship policy for driving high quality and fair work across the labour market in Scotland by applying fair work criteria to grants, other funding and contracts being awarded by and across the public sector, where it is relevant to do so. The Fair Work First guidance outlines our Fair Work First approach and exemplifies the seven Fair Work First criteria in practice.

The default position is that all grant recipients awarded a public sector grant on or after 1 July 2023 will be required to pay at least the Real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective workers' voice as a minimum standard while the other five criteria are encouraged.

Prior to a grant offer letter being signed, grant recipients need to demonstrate that the Real Living Wage is paid and provide evidence of appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice. There is a pro-forma for Fair Work First attached below and with the application form which must be completed in order to submit a grant funding request and to satisfy the funder of compliance.

The grant recipient is to produce the appropriate factual evidence that it is meeting the real Living Wage and effective voice conditions and confirmation of its commitment to working towards the remaining five desirable Fair Work First criteria, in order to satisfy the funder of compliance.

It is the responsibility of the grant recipient who is managing the grant funding to ensure that any other partners who are involved in grant delivery are compliant with the real Living Wage condition (applies to workers directly engaged in the delivery of the funded activity who are aged 16 and over, including apprentices and based anywhere in the UK).

Examples of evidence suitable for individual and collective worker’s voice is provided below. If your organisation has less than 21 employees then you only need to provide evidence of one individual aspect. If you are not clear on what evidence to provide, Transport Scotland will support you.

Examples of evidence suitable for individual and collective worker’s voice by channel

Line Management Relationship (i.e. effective 2-way dialogue through 1:1 relationship)

Written confirmation from trade union/worker representative(s) that there is opportunity for regular 1:1 open and two-way dialogue between line managers and their direct reports; that this dialogue exists separately to standard performance review processes; and that worker-manager working relationships are effective. This could also be supported by evidence of regular engagement survey that supports this; and/or in Organisation’s KPI’s.

Staff /Engagement Surveys

Written confirmation from both management and trade union/worker representative(s) that an appropriate survey is regularly undertaken and can demonstrate that feedback is provided to workforce and actions created and implemented to address this.

Suggestions Schemes

Written confirmation from both management and trade union/worker representatives that a scheme exists and examples provided of improvements made as a result. 

Intranet/Online Platforms

Written confirmation from both management and trade union/worker representatives that an internal platform exists that allows worker contribution to strategic 31 discussion and examples provided where input is acknowledged and acted upon.

Staff Forums / Networks  

Written confirmation from both management and trade union/worker representatives that network(s) and/or a forum exists, meets regularly, supports open dialogue and is action focussed. Examples of actions progressed should be provided

Trade Union Recognition/ Collective Bargaining

Copy of Recognition Agreement is provided.

Access is provided to trade unions / Pro union Membership attitude is demonstrated

1) Trade union(s) confirm that access is granted to recruit and organise members.

And/or:

2) Workers are aware that the employer is happy for them to join a union of their choice (e.g through induction materials, clause in contract).

Joint Consultative Committee/s (JCC)

Written confirmation from both management and and trade union/worker representative(s) that JCC/s exist and examples of issues covered.

European Works Councils (EWCs)

Papers from EWC demonstrating membership and active participation