Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD is based in Denham, Buckinghamshire and specialises in haulage of heavy plant and machinery throughout the UK and Ireland using a modern fleet of vehicles. My name is Chay Gibbs and I am the Compliance Manager at Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD. Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD has seen key benefits such as better trained drivers, less accidents, reduced PCN’s and a reduced environmental impact through having FORS membership. Although as a business we have seen improvements already we are still keen to continually improve and we feel that being a FORS member is key in doing so.

We first heard about FORS from a paragraph in Commercial Motor Magazine which highlighted the benefits of becoming a member of the scheme. As FORS grew in the construction industry it only made sense for our business to join and attain Gold status as soon as possible in order to help us win further contracts but also to demonstrate we are a compliant operator.

We passed our initial Bronze audit first time around in May 2015 and have recently passed our recent Bronze audit in December 2020 first time around also.

Our main reason for progressing from Bronze to Silver to Gold is to ensure that our business is always operating as well as it can be and at the highest standards. This ensures that we are always in the best position to compete for future work.

Since Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD has been accredited we have used all the tools provided by FORS to our full advantage. The use of E Learning modules have been very useful in keeping drivers minds refreshed on key topics such as vulnerable road users and efficient driving. Driver CPC made available by FORS has then helped reinforce what has been learned using the E Learning. We are seeing better returns in MPG from our vehicles, in the past twelve months we have seen a 14% improvement and I believe this is due to Locity classroom training, E Learning Modules and Toolbox Talks provided by FORS.

‘Vehicle safety equipment that is made mandatory by FORS has being crucial in improving our road safety record and is something that we now would never want to be without’ – John Vaughan – Managing Director

‘We continue to see reductions and savings across the fleet which has to be put down to FORS and we are looking to continually push for further savings using tools FORS provides to enable us to do so’ – John Vaughan – Managing Director

• We ensure that all drivers are regularly checked for their health and fitness at employment stage and throughout employment. We complete 6 monthly eyesight checks & medical declarations with all drivers. Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD are following all government guidelines in regards to the current COVID-19 Pandemic to ensure all drivers remain safe. Social distancing and sanitisation of vehicles is monitored
• Currently all new drivers are recruited through word of mouth of current drivers or social media. We feel that these two methods have given best results over recent months. The company welcomes younger drivers however we do not currently use agency drivers. We have a Recruitment Policy in place which is adhered to by management throughout the recruitment
• All vehicles at Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD are fitted with white noise reversing alarms with overrides to be switched off when in noise sensitive areas. All vehicles have automatic cut off which shuts down engines after 2 minutes of idling. This reduces noise and air pollution. We ensure that all vehicle maintenance is done during normal working hours to ensure there is no excessive noise outside of these times. Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD has a Noise Assessment in place at our Operating Centre and steps are in place to help reduce noise impact caused by our business.
• Due to the nature of our business and what we do modal shift has not something we have been able to achieve yet. Everything we source and dispose of is done by road currently however as a business we do continually look at modal shift and will make changes as soon as there is an opportunity to do

To make continual fleet improvements we will be continuing to renew our fleet, purchasing further Euro VI vehicles with more efficient engines. We will continue to monitor driver fitness and health and also ensure that all drivers are receiving up to date training to ensure they have the skills to do their  jobs as effectively and efficiently as possible. We will also be introducing live vehicle CCTV which allows driver behaviour to be monitored a lot more closely.

Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD continues to positively promote the FORS Standard on our social media pages and to all staff via Toolbox talks and briefings.

Vaughan Plant Haulage LTD has a long standing association with FORS and attaining Gold Status will enable our business to win future work as more and more customers now require this level of accreditation. The company would be delighted to achieve Gold Status and wishes to continue their association with FORS for many more years to come.

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