H Askey Transport – Maintaining Gold

H Askey Transport are based in Dinnington, Sheffield and supply a large variety of specialist vehicles, as well as lorry mounted loaders within the general haulage and specialist haulage sectors. Lisa Askey, FORS Co-Ordinator and Fuel and Emissions champion, explains how H Askey has achieved reductions in fuel use thereby reducing our CO2 emissions, lowered NOx and Particulate Matter emissions, through FORS compliance.

We came across FORS whilst tendering for work and soon realised that there are a whole host of benefits to joining, very soon after we gained our Bronze accreditation and haven’t looked back since, fully embracing all aspects of FORS and implementing the various recording systems into our daily operations.

We passed the initial FORS Bronze assessment on the first audit back in February 2012, the whole process was easy to follow and upon collating all of the information it helped to show us how to improve our systems in order to run a more efficient operation, we have further enhanced our systems to encompass all aspects of the FORS reporting, this has helped to achieve a higher level of compliance in every area of the business.

Once we had achieved the Bronze accreditation we were then able to access the full range of benefits available to us, including the drivers e-Learning modules which provided a very informative and helpful way to keep our drivers refreshed with the latest regulations and fuel-efficient driving manner. As FORS is constantly developing the range of driver training aids are proving extremely helpful in training all members of staff. Access to FORS associates has helped to ensure training is frequently delivered.

Attaining FORS Gold has ensured total compliance across all areas of our business

FORS workshops have been a practical way of both improving our knowledge and learning from others.  We routinely deliver toolbox talks to all of our drivers to update them with all relevant information and also to refresh memories of previously delivered toolbox talks. We have hosted several SUD courses on our site maintaining our drivers training and allowing us to invite other local hauliers to attend providing a more convenient location to ensure more hauliers are able to complete this course.

FORS continues to develop as a high-quality source of information and advice to ensure total compliance, Lisa Askey FORS Practitioner

From the outset our aim was always to progress to the highest tier of FORS compliance, this has been driven both by our own wish to continually improve our operation and more recently many delivery sites are requesting that deliveries are made by at the very least Silver compliant operators and in some cases the minimum is now Gold.

*Annual improvement in MPG and Incidents per 100,000 Kms

The increase in the number of PCN’s is a direct result of the increase in business into London and the unfortunate lack of room on sites for waiting vehicles.

• We review our driver health and fitness on a yearly basis, any issues identified are then dealt with as required. Drivers are encouraged to report any issues that they have directly to their transport planner.
• We operate a warehouse to wheels scheme within our business employing staff within our warehouse with a view to putting them through training up to whichever class of licence is required. We also provide various types of training for all members of staff during the course of the year from ALLMI and ADR through to Driver CPC modules.
• We take great care to ensure that we create as little Noise Pollution as possible and we assess all activities carefully to reduce noise where reasonably practicable. Drivers are required to drive off using low revs and as quietly as possible. Lorry Loaders are fitted with either power on demand or stop start technology to reduce engine noise whilst loading
• Whilst we have considered both a modal shift and alternative fuel usage, due to the nature of the business and the types of loads carried there are no currently viable options. Any changes in fuel types shall be considered in the future.

In order to make continual fleet improvements we have a renewal plan in place to replace all of our Euro V vehicles with Euro VI vehicles, we are always on the lookout for any new safety devices which come to market and look to retrofit any which we feel are beneficial in protecting vulnerable road users, We are also investing in fleet planning software to ensure the most efficient routing of our vehicles, this will also ensure that we maximise the usage of all vehicles.

Continuing our FORS Gold accreditation is evidence we are maintaining the best practices required to meet the Gold Standard. Achieving the Gold accreditation shows that we are meeting the highest standards of compliance and road safety.

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Please note: All published FORS Gold case studies have been submitted by the accredited company named above and transcribed verbatim.