Aggregate Haulage is a sub-contractor that transports aggregates and asphalt materials for Tarmac and Aggregate Industries (aggregates suppliers). Established in 2014, the company has improved co2 emission and fuel efficiency significantly since being introduced to FORS. Praeya Sahota, director of Aggregate Haulage explains how FORS has been beneficial to their company.
We came across FORS when tendering for work in London. The benefits FORS had to offer were ideal and suited very well with our business needs. We then began to implement procedures to improve the fuel efficiency and carbon emissions of our fleet.
FORS provided us with the appropriate tools to achieve both the bronze and silver accreditations first time. The process was smooth and it allowed us to collect all business data and identify areas that needed improving. These improvements became very much noticeable and from here we were encouraged to continue practising to measure and improve fuel usage and carbon emissions.
Once we went Silver, we took advantage of the performance management toolkit to achieve our targets of reducing carbon emissions and improving miles per gallon. The toolkit also helped us to create a driver training matrix that allowed to see whether our drivers had completed necessary training courses and when they would need to be booked onto refresher/additional courses.
‘We believe that the performance management toolkit is invaluable and other businesses that may be considering FORS could also take advantage of the toolkit and reap the benefits too.’ – Praeya Sahota
The training material provided by FORS has been impeccable and has furthered our knowledge through the training material provided through the toolkit. We have seen a huge improvement in vehicle maintenance and road safety too because of this. We have been able to monitor driver habits, engine idling times, vehicle acceleration and made adjustment to make further improvements.
‘FORS has improved our Policies and Procedures and helped us to identify and improve our vehicle MPG and co2 emissions.’ – Praeya Sahota
We decided to progress towards the Gold accreditation as we believe the FORS toolkit and standard has improved the way we operate our fleet. By progressing towards Gold, we will see continuous improvements that will be beneficial to our company.
In the last two quarters, we have increased our annual KMPL by 8.88% thanks to FORS.
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KMPL | Incidents per 100,000 Kms |
| Jul- Sept2017 | 2.59 | 0 |
| Oct – Dec 2017 | 2.82 | 0 |
| Percentage improvement | 8.88% | 0% |
We believe the health of our employees must be at its peak in order to prevent road accidents. In order to ensure the health of our employees is suitable for our mode of work, we request that they fill out a health questionnaire Furthermore, we also request our drivers to get their eyesight checked every six months.
At Aggregate Haulage when looking for new employees we do not require them to have prior tipper driver experience. As we offer a two-week buddy plan to new recruits, this welcomes newer drivers into the tipper industry. Our two-week buddy plan consists of a new recruit shadowing a more experienced driver in their daily duties. Using this method helps new drivers ease into their new working environment safely and comfortably.
The vehicles we use create a lot of noise pollution. Since using the FORS anti-idling toolkit and Quiet Equipment Guide, our vehicles noise pollution has decreased significantly. The anti-idling toolkit informed our drivers of when to turn off their engines when idle for too long. Using this method decreased our fleet’s noise pollution and also helped save fuel.
The asphalt and aggregate materials our fleet transport must be kept at high temperatures. Due to this factor, our vehicles require an insulated body and PTO system. Currently, there are no other alternative vehicles more suited to the environment available for our mode of work. However, we will continue to keep up to date with any improvements made in the tipper vehicle industry.
To make continuous improvements, we will ensure our drivers receive regular training and are reminded of the policies that are in place.
Going for the Gold accreditation will add value to our business. The performance management toolkit has been helpful and allowed us to implement change. We have also improved our knowledge and understanding through the provided training material thanks to FORS. By achieving the Gold accreditation, it will show we are compliant and dedicated to achieving the best practice!
Please note: All published FORS Gold case studies have been submitted by the accredited company named above and transcribed verbatim.