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Back in June of this year, I wrote an article about the FTA rolling out a new scheme for Truck Excellence. Well, the first operators have now been awarded accreditation from the FTA, so I thought it was worth taking a look at the scheme again and find out who are the first operators to be awarded “Truck Excellence”. What the Accreditation Means If you didn’t see my previous article, the new accreditation was launched following the success of the FTA’s Van Excellence scheme. The new scheme is specifically targeted at HGVs and is intended to reward high standards of safety and competence in the HGV sector of the haulage industry. This is assessed in modules and by FTA members, so you know that the research is carried out by those with first-hand experience of the industry. These modules are part of an FTA audit of haulage companies, but steps are taken to ensure that the requisites for Excellence are in place on a permanent basis, and not just for the audit. The accreditation will represent an industry-standard seal of approval and show to any customer that your firm has an excellent reputation and high safety standards. It will also help you to stand out from the crowd, which is particularly important when wanting to attract new customers, and even get employees to join your firm in an industry where qualified truck drivers are rare. In addition to this, qualification will provide firms with the peace of mind knowing that their safety standards are extremely high – which is beneficial for both employees and passers-by. First Operators Awarded The FTA has awarded three operators their Truck Excellence accreditation: Sainsbury’s, London Borough of Redbridge and Bidvest Foodservice. Here is what the recipients had to say about the value of the scheme and what it means to their organisation: - Nick Davies, Head of Transport Operations for Sainsbury’s: “We are constantly looking to raise the bar on compliance so we are proud to obtain the FTA’s Truck Excellence accreditation for our Transport Fleet Operation. This has been an 18-month journey, working with the FTA and some of the UK’s best fleet operators to design and implement the Truck Excellence standard within our business and raise the bar in the industry.” - Eddie Cross, Head of Transport Engineering Services at London Borough of Redbridge: “Compliance should always be the top priority for transport fleets. At Redbridge, we have worked with the FTA on Van Excellence, and Truck Excellence was a natural progression to bring our O-licence fleet policies and procedures into line. Not only does this accreditation give confidence in our fleet operation, but it is a big boost to the team that has worked hard to meet the requirements of the standard.” - Graham Rennie, Bidvest Foodservice Director of Fleet: “It’s a privilege to receive this accreditation and be recognised by the FTA for our strong compliance culture, first rate processes and high levels of attainment in relation to the Operator Licensing undertakings. It gives our leadership team and our customers peace of mind that we’re operating at a high standard, and we are proud of our team for their hard work in helping us achieve this.” These three companies have set the benchmark for operators up and down the country. The scheme should help to push standards and ensure that haulage companies are providing the best, and safest, service possible to their customers and providing reassurance to staff, shareholders and stakeholders. Author Plate Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry. Connecting professionals across the UK and Europe through their website, Haulage Exchange provides services for matching haulage companies with jobs in road transport and haulage work. Over 4,000 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading jobs and capacity in a safe 'wholesale' environment.
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