Rhino Waste Services Ltd is a family operated business which was formed in 2013 and provides leading waste management and transport solutions primarily in London, Kent and the M25 perimeter. The company ethos is ‘Charging towards a Greener London’ with its commitment to ‘zero to landfill’ whilst focusing on being able to supply high quality service with the guarantee of customer satisfaction.

The company is based in Erith, Kent and benefits from close links to the road network which enables us to efficiently provide a time effective service to our clients. Lee Johnson, Managing Director explains how through the scheme we have significantly improved the company image and enabled us to increase our client portfolio. Our fleet of Euro VI vehicles gives us total compliance to the Ultra-Low Emission Zone whilst returning improvements on fuel efficiency and improving our carbon footprint. It has also been an integral part in aiding the company achieve its recently acquired ISO 9001 and 14001.

The company recognised the scheme after identifying it other vehicle fleets. We immediately recognised the benefits of membership across the whole spectrum of the standard and knew that it would aid the company in achieving its goals of leading the way in promoting road traffic safety and also reducing our environmental impact.

Rhino Waste Services Ltd was bronze accredited for a number of years and progressed to Silver in June 2017. Whilst the path of progression was not initially straight forward, FORS encouraged and supported our business throughout the process. Understanding the standard and following the guidance provided is key to progression and provides an achievable target for all fleet operators.

‘FORS has helped us to achieve robust systems and best practices to support the company in achieving the highest level of compliance and safety standards within the waste sector’ – Lee Johnson, Manging Director.

‘Since becoming FORS accredited it has helped the company to increase it client base by over 50% and our fleet by 85% – the benefits are clear for everybody to see no matter what the size of your organisation’. – Iain Williams, Operations Manager.

The company was struggling with its fuel usage and was achieving a very low return on its MGP across the fleet. The company were operating vehicles that were predominantly over 7 years old and running on Euro IV or V engines and recognised that these were uneconomical engines, and so implemented a programmed that would see the whole fleet replaced to Euro VI. These vehicles are now crucial to our operation with a high percentage of our clients being located within the ULEZ. Emphasis is now focused on improved driver training and in addition to the regular Safe Urban Driving, we ensure every driver completes a Fuel Saving Module as pert of their Driver CPC periodic training. We also use our telematics system to run reports on driver behaviour which are analysed for driver training and remedial action.

• Driver health and fitness – the company is focused on the continued wellbeing of all staff. The drivers and all other members of staff responsible for any operation of company vehicles is to complete a quarterly health declaration. The Driver Handbook gives clear and precise advice and medical conditions which may impact upon the individual’s ability to safely operate the vehicle and the effects and prescribed and non-prescribed medication and offers support where required.
• Recruitment of drivers – where possible the company attempts to recruit staff from the surrounding area as this assists the company with its continuous improvement regarding staff travel and allows for alternative methods of transport to be utilised such as car share. The company actively encourages development from within the organisation and well seek to promote from within wherever possible and this has proven to be key in improving our staff retention levels.
• Noise assessment – the company were previously located within a compact urban area with residential properties within proximity and noise assessments completed by the company proved that due to the nature of our business, noise pollution was of major concern. We have now relocated to an industrial park specific to industrial units and the closest residential dwellings are over one mile from our site. This has allowed us to operate plant and machinery, the main source of noise generated by the business, in line with our operational requirements. All our vehicles are fitted with the latest white noise reversing alarms and have the facility for the driver to switch this off during unsociable house when required.
• Modal shift and alternative vehicles – the company has investigated and spoken with several manufactures with regards to implementing alternatively fuelled vehicles. However, due to the nature of our business which it to transport demolition and construction waste from our customer siters to our waste transfer station there are currently no alternatively fuelled vehicles which are viable to our business. Electric vehicles would provide the range for a large percentage of our operation, but the additional weight of the vehicles due to battery capacity would significantly impact on our vehicles access to the construction sites we access daily. Having such a large client base within the centre of London also means that rail, water, or air logistics are equally not viable modes of transportation.

Having seen the changes how adopting the FORS principles have already impacted on our business we are keen to continue to build on what we have already achieved. We have implemented a plan to continue to renew all vehicles on a maximum five-year rolling replacement, this ensures we are operating the safest and fuel-efficient vehicles available. Additionally, we have decided to procure automatic gearboxes as we believe it would return a increase in MPG for the fleet. We shall continue to concentrate on driving training to aid our drivers in reducing our carbon footprint and to ensure that our vehicles are operating to the highest possible standard this minimising our effect on vulnerable road users and making the roads a safer place to be.

Obtaining this level of accreditation is a special achievement for Rhino Waste Services Ltd and makes us very proud of our association to the FORS scheme. We have four practitioners within our organisation, and this shows our commitment and embrace of the scheme and its values. We shall continue to work closely with FORS and utilise what benefits it offers to it members, continuing to achieve the very highest standards of road traffic safety and to improve the fuel efficiencies of our fleet whilst reducing our carbon footprint.

http://www.rhinowasteservices.co.uk/

*Please note: All published FORS Gold case studies have been submitted by the accredited company named above and transcribed verbatim