MBA Haulage are a very small independent haulage company based at West Horndon in Essex and are predominantly servicing the construction industry with a very small fleet of concrete mixer trucks. Alex Barbosu explains how MBA Haulage has already achieved significant operational and reporting improvements through FORS. These include reductions in fuel use along with reduced CO₂ emissions, lowered NOx and Particulate Matter emissions, improved its road safety record, decreased transport related fines and charges etc. 

FORS came to us via the need for accreditation demanded by our customer base. We quickly realised it would help us to achieve best practice and benefit us just by being FORS accredited.

MBA Haulage passed their initial bronze audit first time round and Silver proved to be a bit trickier… this showed us that from here the natural path to showing commitment to be the best was to try for silver. We were encouraged to do this by our peers and customers.

Once we had our Bronze accreditation, we decided that we should quickly progress to Silver because our main customer was demanding it and we wanted to show a commitment to quality.…, whilst operating mainly in the capital the FORS standard keeps you sharp and gives you the tools to operate safely and compliantly.

Once silver accredited, we started to make the most of the benefits on offer, in particular… FORS Fleet tools which helps immensely with reporting, the training for both drivers and managers that is on offer will benefit us hugely in the future, as well as the FORS Associates offers and discounts available.

“We decided that we should quickly progress to Silver because our customer was demanding it and we wanted to show a commitment to quality” Alex. MD

“The training for both drivers and managers that is on offer will benefit us hugely in the future” Alex MD. 

Section 6 – What improvements have you made?

• Driver health and fitness is constantly under review, Eye checks are carried out informally at least every six months and every two years by an optician. Drivers will undergo a fitness to work assessment annually with an approved body.
• Recruitment of drivers is something that will hopefully come into play in the future as the company expands its fleet going forward.
• Noise assessment – Both our vehicles are Euro 6 diesels and conform to current noise levels both within and outside the cab relevant when driving & manoeuvring .When loading or unloading, our deliveries are mainly to busy building sites and civil engineering projects and the pouring of concrete is what it is currently, our vehicles are modern and servicing and vehicle washing is done away from the operating centre at approved facilities
• We have looked at alternative fuelled vehicles and are sure that we will utilise these in the future as both the range and cost become more within reach of what we do. Modal shift isn’t really an option with a concrete mixer.

Section 7 – What are your plans for the future?

We will endeavour to make continual fleet improvements we will be continuing to purchase Euro VI vehicles in the interim but will look at alternative fuelled vehicles in the future. revising the way we monitor driver fitness and health is always a priority, and procuring low entry/high visibility vehicles will further help operational safety, and this will stand is in good stead and help our company to grow in the future.

Section 8 – What evidence do you have of positively promoting FORS at requirement G7?

Our trucks have the FORS logo on and once we have achieved Gold our invoices will contain the FORS gold Logo, we do not send out flyers or purchase orders as we are working solely for one customer who has expressed to us that we achieve Gold.

Section 9 –What FORS Gold accredition means for your organisation/to you?

Gold accreditation will inform our customer and peers that we are committed to being the best and going forward into the future can only help with planned expansion of the company.

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