ASMARA HAULAGE – Road to Gold

Asmara haulage Ltd was started in 2016 by Mengsteab Fortuna. Originally with one vehicle as an ownerdriver for Tarmac, he now operates two vehicles as a contracted haulier at Park Royal London. Mengsteab is proud to be one of the companies who operates a Econic Low entry cab, in London.

We were introduced to FORS when tendering for work across London. When we looked at the requirements and benefits of joining the scheme we saw that they fitted in perfectly with our company of improving safety whilst complementing our drive to improve fuel efficiency and reduce our environmental impact.

I was able to achieve our first FORS bronze accreditation with ease, thanks to the guidance provided by FORS. After achieving our bronze accreditation, we were encouraged to aim for a FORS silver accreditation, after seeing the noticeable improvements within the company after implementing the processes required for a bronze accreditation.

After becoming Bronze and seeing the benefits FORS made available to me, especially the e-learning and fuel management, the company decided to move forward and apply for Silver. The company was awarded the Silver accreditation after this the Gold accreditation was the next to be our next achievement.

“FORS e-learning will continue to be a practical way of improving our knowledge and learning from others for all at Asmara Haulage Ltd.” – (Director) Mengsteab Fortuna

The e-learning modules are a constant form of training along with the toolbox talks on the FORS website improving knowledge of myself and the company drivers.

Since implementing FORS into our company we feel it is invaluable to us moving forward as a business” – (Director) Mengsteab Fortuna

The main reason for progression was that I wanted to demonstrate to Tarmac and their customers that the company was capable of meeting the challenges ahead. It is important that we continue to improve the operations of the business and by doing this we are in a better position to benefit from more contracts and continued expansion in the future.

* slight improvement in Kmpl in the last quarter and kept the incidents and pcn’s to nil.

All drivers complete a Medical Declaration on an annual basis, employees always inform the company immediately of any medical issues.

If we recruit it is usually by word of mouth and recommendations, as a sub contract haulier with Tarmac, all new drivers must complete the buddy scheme, where they are placed with an experienced driver to make sure they are actively trained in all aspects of works for ready mix concrete deliveries, before taking a vehicle out on their own.

We actively try to reduce any noise pollution our vehicles may make, we always make sure vehicles are switched off if standing in traffic, try to keep all noise to a minimum when loading and unloading.

We have looked into alternative transport modes and the possibility of an alternative vehicle to include Hybrid and hydrogen powered vehicles, when vehicles are bought to the market that enables us to use them for our workload and are viable to purchase we will definitely look into the possibility, we do operate a low entry cab, which helps in the London traffic.

FORS has enabled the company to run more efficiently and aid drivers to improve their skills. Going forward for the future Asmara haulage ltd would use the advances in technology with truck and aids to help drivers in their daily tasks

Becoming FORS Gold accredited will enable the business to achieve and maintain high standards for drivers and vehicles. FORS standard has enabled the business to work more efficiently and improved the driver’s skills in their day-to-day tasks.

At the present time we are not using Social Media as our work is directly franchised to with Tarmac, so we do not have the need to advertise our company for work, but feel in the future it is something we will look to using to show our achievements as a company.