O’Malley Haulage – Stepping Up for Gold

O’Malley Haulage is a successful family run business that has bloomed from years of combined experience from the road haulage and construction industries. Based in Watford, Hertfordshire, Managing Director Tom O’Malley explains how O’Malley Haulage have made significant steps to improving fleet fuel efficiency and through the continued support of the FORS scheme has further improved road safety standards.

“I was first made aware of the FORS scheme through contracts the company were working on at the time and I Was advised of the benefits FORS had on offer for operator support.”

We had our first bronze audit in 2013 and passed first time round. The auditor was very helpful and offered advise that was very supportive in helping us with work towards silver accreditation.

Once we had gained FORS accreditation we made use of all of the tools FORS had to offer including online management tools which have been a success in adjusting and improving transport management systems in order to meet FORS accreditation requirements. The vulnerable road user training also proved to be beneficial to my drivers in developing knowledge and awareness of safe, considerate and observant driving.

“Implementing FORS systems via staff training and management tools has supported the business in an efficient and safe operator.” – Tom O’Malley, Managing Director.

The safe urban driving course has been very useful to develop knowledge and raise awareness of sharing the road with vulnerable road users for all of the drivers. Its also a further advantage that drivers also have access to e-learning will they can make use of the advice on offer via the training modules.

“FORS are setting standards in the industry with useful training helping us to maintain high safety standards.”

Due to an upgraded euro 6 fleet we have improved our fuel efficiency by 27% and a reduction in an already low incident rate with the support of training and vehicle on board safety systems.

• We are monitoring and reviewing the health and fitness of our drivers using medical declaration forms which are issued on employment and reviewed every 6 months thereafter. In addition, we have constructed a cycle shed at the operating centre and continue to encourage drivers to cycle to work to improve fitness levels and ease parking congestion at the operating centre.
• Our drivers largely come from recommendation, but we are currently reviewing ways to encourage new drivers into the industry via local schools and colleges and adding a recruitment section to the website.
• Although our operating centre is not in a noise sensitive area, some of the various site we deliver to can be, so we carry out toolbox talks to make drivers aware of keeping noise to an absolute minimum. Also, we are always careful in timing our deliveries carefully to minimise disruption in the local area.
• We are always looking at how technology is moving forward to meet the needs of the industry however there is not yet any alternatively fuel vehicles suitable to meet our requirements, however we have continued to invest in the latest cleaner and more fuel efficient euro 6 vehicles that have proved a significant improvement in reducing our fuel usage and reducing harmful emissions.

We will continue to upgrade our fleet to euro 6 and practice fuel efficient driving to minimise environmental impact. We will also continue to invest in driver training and the latest vehicle onboard safety systems to continuously improve road safety awareness.

O’Malley Haulage Limited is proud to be a silver accredited member of the FORS scheme that continues to support its operators to maintain the high standards that are expected within the industry. Going forward we will continue to utilise the benefits of FORS to continuously develop knowledge and experience of our staff in managing an efficient operation. Gaining Gold accreditation will further build on the reputation of the company as a high-quality operator.

We have an up to date website, but the company does not engage in any form of social media as we feel it would not prove to be a benefit.