K S Gill Haulage is a sub-contractor that transports tarmac materials for Tarmac industries. The business was established in 1981 and since joining FORS, they have seen a large improvement in their vehicles carbon emission output and the amount of KMLP delivered by their fleet. Kuldip Gill the director of K S Gill Haulage explains how FORS has benefited his company.
When researching ways in which the company can improve their fuel usage and emission output, we came across the FORS website online. After reading the case studies on their website to see how they have helped other companies we were convinced that FORS was the option to take to improve on the processes made in our company with the use of their wide range of toolkits.
K S Gill Haulage passed their initial Bronze audit the first time. This encouraged us to continue using FORS after seeing the improvement made to the company by making use of the driver’s online training courses and toolkits. We will continue to keep up to date with driver’s courses and any new toolkits being made available.
Once K S Gill Haulage was Bronze accredited, we continued to make use of the toolkits provided by FORS. In particular, the anti-idling toolkit and fuel usage tracker were very helpful in different ways but both helped when it came to saving fuel and improving emission output. The anti-idling toolkit helped advise drivers when to turn off engines when idle for long periods of time e.g. traffic. Furthermore, the fuel usage tracker helped the company keep track of the amount of CO2 output and miles per gallon achieved. With this data they could see how much they have or need to improve each month.
‘The wide range of toolkits provided by FORS has helped improved our companies processes run more smoothly and efficiently.’ – Kuldip Gill
FORS offers a wide range of training courses and modules for drivers in order to improve on their road safety knowledge. Our drivers have completed the Safe Urban Driving course which consists of a road theory module and a practical cycling module to help see the road through the eyes of a vulnerable road user. Also, the e-Learning Cycle safety course helped improve our driver’s knowledge on road safety and vulnerable road users. Furthermore, the TruckSmart course which informed our drivers of the importance of roadworthy HGV’s and how drivers must ensure the vehicle and load is safe and legal at all times. All of the courses have made a drastic improvement on our driver’s road knowledge and road safety skills.
‘Our drivers are much more confident on the road after completing the FORS Cycle Safety, Safe Urban Driving and TruckSmart courses.’ – Kuldip Gill
After becoming FORS Bronze accredited we saw how much it improved our company and knew we wanted to keep improving so we decided to aim for a Silver accreditation also. After implementing the FORS practices into our company with the use of the FORS toolkits and driving courses and modules our company is more successful and beneficial to the environment and public.
In the last twelve months, we have increased our annual KMPL by 3.7 % thanks to FORS.
| KMPL | |
| Dec 15 – Nov 16 | 3.14 |
| Dec 16 – Nov 17 | 3.26 |
| Percentage improvement | 3.7% |
The health of employees at K S Gill Haulage is of utmost importance in order stay safe on the road and not be a risk to other road users and the public. In order to ensure the health of our employees we request that they complete a health questionnaire declaring that they are fit to work which is repeated annually.
As we only have one vehicle within the company we do not need to recruit for new drivers regularly but when we do we advertise online and in local newspapers. In the advertisement we offer a paid two-week buddy plan to help the new driver adapt to their new driving environment safely and comfortably.
By using the FORS Quiet Equipment guide we were able to implement new ways to help reduce vehicle noise pollution. One of the methods includes turning off the vehicles engine when stationary for long periods of time which also helps save fuel.
As the nature of our business is to transport tarmac materials our vehicle must have a PTO system and an insulated body. As there are no alternative vehicles with that have these specifications we must continue using our current diesel vehicle.
In order for our company to keep improving we will continue to keep up to date with any new driver courses and encourage drivers to retake courses in order to keep their driver knowledge refreshed. Moreover, we will continue to use current and new toolkits in order to learn new way to reduce noise pollution, emission outputs and fuel usage.
K S Gill Haulage becoming FORS Gold accredited would ensure the company that we are using the best practices when providing a service and reaffirm the public that we are implementing practices that will help the environment and vulnerable road users. In order to keep implementing the best practices into the company we will keep up to date with new courses and toolkits in order to keep the company at its peak.
Please note: All published FORS Gold case studies have been submitted by the accredited company named above and transcribed verbatim.