BARTMAC GOING FOR GOLD

Bartmac Ltd are a Tipper Haulage Contractor, we have been in business for nearly 45 years. We operate 27 rigid tippers under franchise agreements for various national aggregate suppliers throughout the United Kingdom. The vast majority of our work consists of transporting asphalt and aggregate, and occasionally the transportation of waste to recycling centres. I, Mark Culver am the Transport Manager for Bartmac Ltd. I have been working with Bartmac since 2001, formally as a driver, I was promoted to Foreman and then after completing my CPC, I became the Transport Manager. Bartmac progression through the various FORS standards, along with bringing forward its investment in new vehicles and driver attitudes have greatly reduced our carbon footprint and improved our road safety record, particularly in relation to vulnerable road users.

Bartmac first became aware of FORS through our involvement with Aggregate Industries, It quickly became apparent that joining FORS and meeting their standards would not only be of benefit to the environment and vulnerable road user’s, but also it could help with driver retention and help generate business.

Bartmac approached their first audit with a little trepidation, their fears were unfounded as the auditor, although thorough provided guidance and advise on how to progress with the action points he picked up on. These action points were dealt with and encouraged us to further improve areas of our business.

After achieving the Bronze accreditation status, Bartmac proudly applied the Bronze accreditation to our vehicles, this quickly became noticed and as a result Bartmac became the operator of choice for our customers, helping them secure lucrative contracts that demanded the FORS standard.

Mark Culver Transport Manager said, ‘I found that the FORS management tools, in particular the operational data section very useful, this facility helped identify particular trends and thereby allowing me to take any necessary action’.

Our employees have found the eLearning useful, particularly the cycle safety module, as it gives the prospective of both the driver and the cyclist. Another area that we have benefited from is the fuel management tool, this helped highlight unnecessary fuel usage.

Our Managing Director Tony Bartholomew said, ‘This is a win win situation that benefits everyone, it creates a cleaner environment and saves money for re investment in cleaner technologies’.

Once achieving Bronze accreditation Bartmac witnessed an improvement in the running of the business along with driving standards. Bartmac decided that we should progress to silver because the higher standard focuses more on vulnerable road users and the implementation of recording technologies that not only acted as a driver aid, but also help with insurance costs and mitigating losses in the event of any incident. Bartmac became the first franchisee among our peers to achieve and promote the silver standard, as a result of this, organisations we work for have requested that silver becomes the minimum standard. Bartmac intends to continue and lead the way by ‘Going for Gold’.

Bartmac Performance data

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

Bartmac assess driver fitness prior to employment, by way of a health questionnaire form, this is amended when circumstances dictate and is currently reviewed every five years. New measures were implemented at our annual employee appraisal meetings in January 2018, these will include an annual health check including 6 monthly eye test. These checks will be reviewed on a more regular basic if circumstances dictate, if Bartmac or the employees have any concerns, a professional medical assessment will be sought. New drivers are encouraged to join our industry by means of quality training scheme, backed up with the knowledge that they will be employed by a FORS accredited company that strives to be at the forefront, when it comes to meeting industry standards. New driver training commences with training on a short wheel base 18t vehicle, with progression to larger vehicles.

Bartmac take the matter of noise pollution very seriously, Bartmac carried out a detailed noise assessment to highlight any issues. All vehicles are fitted with white noise alarms which emit a lower dB sound, thus creating less of a noise nuisance. Vehicles are fitted with switches to disable warning alarms during out of hour’s operations where restrictions are in place. The loading of vehicles may be restricted by the operational hours of the quarries we visit, this takes into account the nature and location of these sites, likewise customer’s sites may have time restrictions imposed as a part of planning consent. This information is communicated to our employee’s via delivery tickets and Toolbox Talks.

Employees are also encouraged to keep vehicle idling to a minimum, this is aided by the installation of an idle shut down system fitted to the vehicles, alongside the installation of parking heaters, which are not only much quieter but also use a fraction of the fuel to operate. Bartmac operate within modern workshops, where building properties incorporate high levels of insulation to mitigate the escape of noise. Vehicle washing facilities are only operated during daylight hours, this minimises disruption to local residents and also minimises the risks to the operator that working in artificial light could pose. Bartmac have looked into alternative means of transporting goods for our customers, however due to the nature of our business this is not possible at this time. We have looked into alternative fuels and are awaiting news from Volvo Truck’s on the launch of their new gas truck for regional and long-haul transport. They have managed to increase the gas part of the truck to over 90 per cent. The liquid gas also provides enough energy to be able to run up to 1,000 kilometres between tank refilling. This is thanks to the fact that it is not a traditional gas engine ignition with spark plugs, but a diesel engine where the gas is ignited by a small amount of diesel or HVO. This combines biogas climate benefits of the diesel engine’s performance, energy efficiency and drive ability. Volvo strongly believes in methane gas for long distance transport, where the fuel provides great potential savings to the environment in the form of low CO₂, while maintaining performance.

SBartmac have brought forward their Euro 6 fleet renewal program, this will remove the more polluting and less efficient vehicles from the fleet and further improve driver acceptance. We have added an additional safety feature by way of fitting lower level windows into the near side doors of all new vehicles, to aid in identifying vulnerable road users. We are eagerly awaiting news from Volvo Truck’s on the launch of their new gas powered truck. Bartmac’s new health check measures will be implemented at our annual employee appraisal meetings in January 2018, these will include an annual health check including 6 monthly eye test. These checks will be reviewed on a more regular basic if circumstances dictate, if Bartmac or the employee has any concerns, a professional medical assessment will be sought. Bartmac intend to be proactive towards the future of the business, we are entering into interesting times, what with the imminent arrival of the start of HS2. During preliminary meeting for the project, it was estimated that an additional 850 vehicles would be required for the project, thus opening the opportunity for expansion of FORS accredited companies.

The benefits to the company from achieving the FORS Gold accreditation include the ability to attract and retain quality trained drivers. To feel safe in the knowledge that the business is doing its utmost to protect vulnerable road users, making their journeys safer and assisting in providing a cleaner environment that can be enjoyed by all. The accolade of achieving the FORS Gold accreditation will provide Bartmac with the ability to tender for more prestigious contracts, and send out the message to our peers and others that achieving the FORS accreditation is the way forward. Going forward Bartmac shall continue to focus on driver training and strive to further improve our safety record and emissions footprint through additional investment in Euro 6 technology.

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