Muztrans is a General Haulage supplier based in Belvedere, Kent on the outskirts of South East London. Established in 2009 our three Directors have more than 50 years cumulative experience within the haulage industry. We have proven ourselves to be a leading provider of logistical services to a wide range of industry clients, both within London and nationwide. Being based a stones throw from London, benefits our ever increasing customer base, delivering to a wide range of businesses in and around London, for the Construction, Rail, Civil Engineering and Manufacturing Industries.
We operate a varied fleet of 43 vehicles ranging in size from transit and rigid vehicles to 44 tonne articulated vehicles, including those with specialist remote lifting equipment and specialist trailers.
As Muztrans move into our 3rd year as Gold Operators our FORS Coordinator and Compliance Officer, Donna Welsh explains our journey and how FORS has proven to be a driving force behind improved company operations and assisted Muztrans in reducing fuel use, CO2 emissions, improved road safety, decreased road traffic incidents and transport related fines.
Muztrans were initially introduced to FORS back in 2010 via the Crossrail project and with the ever-changing compliance demands of operating within London, as a company we knew that FORS was the only way forward.
We acquired our Bronze accreditation on our initial audit, which ensured us we were heading in the right direction. We feel since then Muztrans has developed as a company alongside the progressive changes to the FORS Standards over recent years.
From here our FORS journey continued. Company policies and procedures were further developed and we made use of all the recourses FORS had to offer. Procedures were put in place to track fuel usage, traffic incidents and penalty charge notices. This gave us the clear starting point we needed in order to progress.
For the next step of our journey, we then turned our attention to driver training. Again, with the aid of FORS we developed a detailed Driver Induction program within the company. Additionally, Driver Development Training was implemented and our fleet of drivers have attended the FORS Safer Urban Driving CPC courses and although many of them were initially sceptical, any misconceptions they might have had soon disappeared, as we found they all returned with only positive things to say about the training.
We made full use of the resources FORS had to offer, which included FORS E-Learning modules, along with the online toolbox talks, has proven to be an invaluable refresher training tool provided by FORS. Committing to this comprehensive range of training methods provides us with huge confidence in a fully trained driving team and has aided our drivers understanding of their roles and responsibilities as professional drivers.
‘We were initially introduced to FORS back in 2010 via the Crossrail project and with the ever-changing compliance demands of operating within London, as a company we knew that FORS was the only way forward’. – Donna Welsh, FORS Coordinator and Compliance Officer.
FORS Practitioner workshops also proved to be a practical way of both improving our knowledge and learning from others. We gained a wealth of information and returned to the office with many ideas being implemented within our procedures. Our compliance team have attended all of these training workshops, with myself and Joe Tack both gaining full practitioner status, remaining valid for 5 years.
‘Continuing to maintain our Gold accreditation only further promotes our reputation within the industry and provides evidence we are dedicated to improving road safety and the safety of vulnerable road users, whilst maintaining best practice.’ – Tarkan Mazloum, Company Director.
With the increasing contractual demand for Silver operators within the industry, progression to Silver was undoubtedly the only way forward for us, with accreditation being awarded in 2014. Silver requirements are aimed at drastically improving the overall safety of your fleet and safety has always been paramount for us at Muztrans. FORS has assisted us in enforcing these safety standards across our entire fleet and we committed to installing all the necessary equipment recommended by FORS to ensure our vehicles are safer for both drivers and for the vulnerable road user.
In order to support that commitment further, we also took the additional step and completed the installation of 4-way CCTV camera systems across our entire fleet. This 4-way system is above the standard requirement, but this has assisted us in reducing our incident and collision data and we feel, will further prepare us for future requirements.
As Muztrans move into our 3rd year as Gold operators, this progression was only possible due to the improvements made against our performance figures. Although we had previously updated our tracking technology, this year we took further steps and incorporated full vehicle telematics offering us a wealth of operational improvements with a complete transport management package, with integrated software which ties in tachograph analysis along with dynamic vehicle tracking, electronic daily vehicle check software along with licence checking.
Driver performance can now be monitored with a link to a New Driver Compliance Reporting System which enable us to keep track of all our drivers’ actions, making it easier to highlight any issues earlier through a score-based system. Data includes, MPG, Engine Idle, Over Speed events, Over Rev, Severe Braking, Rapid acceleration, Excess Throttle, use of Cruise Control, and Tacho Infringement.
A Driver Debrief document can also be produced, along with league table, detailing all the metrics for an individual driver or vehicle. With all these systems now in place we are further equipped to improve this data and with urban deliveries continuing to be on the increase, our overall MPG against our baseline yearly figures have again seen vast improvements, which in turn reduced our carbon footprint. With close monitoring along with an effective driver re-training program and new vehicles, we can only expect these figures to improve further year on year.
|
Fuel Usage |
Fleet MPG | Total Incidents |
PCNs |
|
|
Baseline Data |
688,374 | 8.6 | 29 | 27 |
|
Sept 17 – Aug 2018 |
478,200 | 9.2 | 9 |
16 |
| Percentage Improvement | 30.53% | 6.97% | 68.96% |
40.74% |
- Driver health and fitness is constantly monitored. All drivers are required to complete a comprehensive Fit 2 Drive Health & Fitness Declaration, together with the completion of eye sight checks. These are completed initially on induction, then 6-monthly thereafter.
- Drivers are also required to inform us immediately of any issues that could affect their ability to drive, including any medication being taken and declarations are signed to confirm their compliance and understanding of this policy.
- We have a robust recruitment policy in place and we have taken steps to encourage young drivers into the industry. Firstly, we are building links to local schools in order to provide work placements. We have been passed as an approved work experience provider with the London Borough of Greenwich. Our aim will be to ultimately provide apprenticeship opportunities to school leavers. This year has seen us set up links with the RHA Apprenticeship scheme and one of our class 3 drivers is currently working towards gaining first his class 2 then ultimately progressing with his class 1.
- Muztrans actively assess all activities to reduce noise pollution where reasonably practical. All vehicles are fitted with white noise reverse beepers which can be turned off manually where required for night time use.
- Electronic Pallet trucks were also introduced to help reduce noise created during deliveries and our strict anti-idling policy additionally aids the reduction of onsite noise whilst loading and unloading.
- Whilst Muztrans have considered both modal shift and alternative vehicles, however due to the nature of our varied work neither railways, canals or pallet networks are an option, as were the use of alternative vehicles. The use of Consolidation Centres offers a huge environmental benefit for development sites and can reduce vehicle deliveries by up to 70%. Fewer deliveries mean less construction traffic, reduced vehicle emissions, noise and pollution.
- That being said Muztrans strive to make up for this in a number of ways including being a Construction Consolidation Centre. Construction Consolidation Centres are appropriately located distribution facilities where multiple bulk material deliveries are stored and transported to sites. Suppliers deliver materials to us and stock is called off when required and then picked and packed into consolidated loads. Vehicles can then be utilised for reverse logistics operations with waste, damaged goods, pallets and stillages are brought back to us on the return journey.
In order to make continual fleet improvements we are constantly monitoring change within the transport industry and take on board all improvements that could benefit both the company and the environment.
With this in mind we have continued to progress with our vehicle modernisation program…. replacing many of our older vehicles with brand new Euro VI standard engines, including those with automated manual transmissions, both offering huge benefits with fuel consumption and lower emissions.
We have already replaced a total of 24 of our older vehicles with 11 being during this last 12-month period. Additionally, 6 are ordered and due to be delivered by March 2019 with a further 8 scheduled by end 2019. This ongoing schedule will ensure that the vast majority of fleet will be Euro VI standard by 2019 and prepare us in being compliant with the new Ultra Low Emission Zone Standards due to come into force and further assist us in reducing our carbon footprint.
Continuing to maintain our Gold accreditation only further promotes our reputation within the industry and provides evidence we are dedicated to improving road safety and the safety of vulnerable road users, whilst maintaining best practice.