One of your main responsibilities as a fleet manager is to keep running costs as low as possible without compromising on service or security. Given the current economic climate, the pressure to find newer and better ways to be resourceful can be daunting, but with a little frugal thinking you’ll find opportunities to save in places you might not have considered.
Better maintenance
Poor vehicle maintenance often leads to costly repairs and frustrating, unplanned vehicle downtime. Not only do these disruptions impair your fleet’s operations, they can also damage your fleet’s service reputation, which can have a lasting impact on your bottom line.
There are a number of factors to consider when deciding which vehicles to include on your choice list for drivers (assuming your drivers don’t all drive the same vehicle model).
Sometimes a vehicle with a relatively low purchase or leasing rate ends up costing more in the long run once you consider factors like fuel costs, taxation, performance, durability and maintenance. As soon as you give careful consideration to the projected costs of vehicle ownership, instead of just initial costs, you can begin to narrow down the most practical options to include in your choice list.
Fuel efficiency
Individual driving style greatly affects the fuel consumption of a given vehicle. Drivers who adopt a smoother approach to the road are significantly less wasteful of fuel than aggressive drivers and can in turn help keep emissions low.
By incentivising your drivers to drive economically, you can make big savings on your fuel bill and can save money from having to conduct fewer wear and tear repairs. Using your BP Fuel Card mileage capture reports in My Fleet Hub, you can calculate the fleet average MPG for a given vehicle model and consider rewarding those drivers with the lowest MPG. This will encourage all drivers to drive smarter, and instilling this kind of behavioural change is likely to really help your bottom line.
Freight drivers in Scotland may find conditions increasingly difficult as snow sweeps across the country.
The Met Office has issued a series of yellow weather warnings for ice in various parts of Scotland. These regions include the Central, Tayside & Fife, Highlands & Eilean Siar, south-west Scotland, Lothian, Borders, and Strathclyde regions.
This means almost all of Scotland, bar the east coast, is facing significant weather challenges. Ice poses a particularly obvious peril to drivers of vehicles large or small. Places like Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee will be fine for now, although this may change as weather systems sweep in.
However, over the course of today (January 22nd) no weather-related road closures have yet been reported by Travel Line Scotland, with some closed due to other occurrences such as roadworks and the laying of gas pipes.
Naturally, the gritters will be out in force, but if the snow keeps coming and the temperatures remain low as expected, many roads could become a lot slower, with drivers being forced to cut their speed.
Preparing for the worst
So far this winter conditions have been generally mild across Scotland. Snow mainly confined to the upland areas, but that could now be at an end.
For that reason, drivers should take extra precautions to ensure they are safe in the event of cold weather. This includes warm clothing, warm drinks and extra food in case they get stranded for long periods; or even overnight.
Indeed, last year’s Beast from the East showed that problems can still occur right into early spring.
The coldest temperatures in Scottish winters tend to occur in the eastern Highlands. Those using the A9, for example, may pass through Aviemore, where the mercury has been known to drop to -22C on winter nights.
Braemar on the other side of the Cairngorms range can be similarly cold.
Ellie Baker, brand manager at FCS Scotland, comments: “Winter has arrived with a vengeance, and it could get worse, so now is an important time for freight drivers to take all the necessary precautions.”
Fuel Card Services, the UK’s leading provider of cost-effective solutions for making fleet management easier, is proud to announce yet another successful external audit.
The company has once again maintained three key certifications: ISO9001:2015 Quality, ISO14001:2015 Environmental, and ISO50001:2011 Energy.
The auditors were “extremely impressed” with the company, the Information Management System (IMS), and the active contribution made by all staff.
A winning team
Fuel Card Services’ Managing Director, Denise Frost, congratulated the IMS team saying, “We would like to say thank you to all of those who were ready and willing to participate in the audit, including Management Systems Co-ordinator Jennifer Mason.”
Denise added that “A special mention needs to go to Ammar Tahir who joined the company in April and has worked incredibly hard to learn the Management System and all of its associated tasks, whilst ensuring all of the documentation was up to date for the audit.”
Committed to quality
Although Fuel Card Services secures its ISOs every year, Denise was quick to confirm the company’s success is down to staying committed to quality – not just in IMS but across all departments.
“The reason we achieved certification was due to the hard work and assistance of personnel all year round,” Denise said. “By holding these certifications, it tells our customers we are committed to their satisfaction as much as to our environmental responsibilities.”
Going the extra mile
Fuel Card Services also helps fleet managers stay up-to-date with essential news through their Fleet Matters publication, enables fleets to become more sustainable with The Green Journey website and news updates, and is a proud supporter of the Cool Earth initiative.
Denise Frost, M.D. Fuel Card Services
Fuel Card Services believes in looking after its employees, which includes a good work life balance, find out more about a career with us at www.career4you.co.uk
Blind spots have been something every driver simply has to live with. A-pillars are essentially attaching a car’s roof to the rest of the vehicle and keeping the windscreen in place.
Obscuring a portion of a driver’s view of the road, they pose a safety hazard to pedestrians and vulnerable road users.
However, that is all about to change after Continental revealed what is essentially a see-through A-pillar.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen transparent A-pillars. Jaguar Land Rover was showing them off back in 2014 and Toyota patented the idea in August 2017, but nonetheless, Continental’s take is the latest and perhaps most impressive example so far.
Continental’s Virtual A-Pillar works by tracking the driver’s movements with an interior camera mounted above the steering wheel and displays an image of the vehicle’s exterior environment on the interior OLED displays on the A-pillar, enabling the driver to “see through” it.
With more car makers using the A-pillar to house safety equipment, the advanced technology addresses an increasing issue on newer vehicles that may require even larger front pillars.
A spokesperson from Continental said the driver ultimately feels like they’re looking through an extended window, rather than at a live video feed.
They commented: “By pairing and implementing advanced technology in the vehicle, Continental has created a solution that eliminates the forward blind spots of the A-pillars, helping to reduce a critical safety hazard experienced by so many road users.”
It remains unclear if or when the technology would appear on a production car, but the system is certainly a step forward in improving road safety and minimising the potential for accidents.
Jez Strong, general manager for Tele-Gence, commented: “This is at least the third system that solves the issue of the front pillar obscuring what the driver can see and surely, it’s only a matter of time before this tech reaches modern motorists.”
Your business can benefit from affordable telematics with no hidden start-up fees or long-term commitments. Find out how at www.tele-gence.com
FORS has revealed the new FORS Standard at its annual Members’ Conference.
The new FORS Standard is the fifth iteration of the document. It sets out the requirements operators must meet if they wish to become FORS accredited.
The revised edition addresses the need for air quality improvements and sets out requirements to help operators mitigate against threats of terrorism. Provision is also made for a broader range of operations and vehicles, including powered two-wheelers, and new requirements for bus and coach operators.
The FORS Standard is updated every two years to reflect the continuous evolution of best practice and FORS’s singular aim to drive-up safety, environmental, and efficiency standards for all road transport operations. Version 5 of the FORS Standard was revealed to 500 FORS members at its annual conference in Birmingham today (Tuesday 16 October).
This edition of the FORS Standard, published as FORS reaches its 10th year of operation, highlights the increasing diversity of commercial fleets and aims to make it more accessible for a broader range of vehicles to achieve accreditation. It contains a more robust commitment to raising environmental standards in operations, recognising the need for better air quality in UK cities via revised requirements and a revised training programme.
FORS director, John Hix said, “FORS has always been committed to promoting continuous best practice, both in the progressive nature of our accreditation, and in the way we work to ensure our requirements remain relevant.
“The FORS Standard is not a static document, because best-practice is not static. The FORS Standard must respond to emerging best practice and new legislations which affect members, and the feedback of members themselves.”
Key changes – FORS Bronze Audit
The revised FORS Standard has been designed to make FORS accessible to more vehicles, especially the growing fleets of motorcycles and other powered two-wheelers, which contribute to many last-mile deliveries on UK roads. Now, specific load safety requirements set out by vehicle type are included not only for heavy goods vehicles, vans and passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs), but also powered two-wheelers.
PCVs are also given greater credence, with a new requirement at FORS Bronze to ensure accessibility, comfort and safety for all passengers. The requirement must be demonstrated via a passenger safety policy, on vehicle signage and adequate access for all passengers.
A new counter terrorism requirement has been introduced, meaning operators must have a policy and supporting procedures in place at FORS Bronze, which names a Counter Terrorism Champion. Under new Bronze training requirements members must also have completed the current FORS Professional Security and Counter Terrorism eLearning module within the 24 months prior to audit. Since its launch in January 2018, the module has been completed by over 15,700 individuals.
John Hix noted, “With the terrorist threat ongoing, it is now more important than ever that we all play our part in tackling the dangers to personal and vehicle safety. FORS is proud to be supporting our operators and drivers in managing and reducing risk in their day-to-day operations.”
Key changes – FORS Silver and Gold Accreditations
An added emphasis on improving environmental operating standards becomes evident with a new requirement at FORS Silver for HGV and van drivers to complete the FORS Professional ‘LoCITY – Time to clean up’ eLearning module within the 24 months prior to accreditation.
In line with the progressive nature of the scheme, FORS has also introduced a requirement at Gold for drivers to have completed either the FORS Professional LoCITY Driving training course, or a FORS Approved environmental awareness course within the past five years. This is in addition to the current requirement to have attended a Safe Urban Driving (SUD), a Van Smart (VS) or a FORS Approved work-related road safety training course, within the five years prior to accreditation.
FORS Silver also includes a commitment to tackle noise pollution – a criteria formally only mandated at FORS Gold. Operators seeking FORS Silver accreditation must complete noise assessments at operating centres and noise sensitive locations in a bid to minimise noise pollution and its impact on local communities.
The new FORS Standard aims to minimise the probability and severity of collisions involving vulnerable road users. FORS Silver accreditation is also fully aligned to meet both the TfL requirements on managing work-related road risk (WRRR) and the new CLOCS Standard v3, due to come into force in January 2019.
The evolution of the FORS Standard
The FORS Standard review process has been managed by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), part of the FORS Community Partnership (FCP), under the direction of a Technical Advisory Group of the FORS Governance and Standards Advisory Group (GSAG) – a group made up of FORS members, specifiers and stakeholders who provide advice and guidance on the development of FORS.
John Hix concluded, “FORS has grown from a relatively-small London-centric operation, to encompass well over 5,000 members of diverse fleets nationwide. With this truly national remit, it is vital that FORS is flexible enough to meet the evolving challenges our members face and to help operators striving for continuous operational excellence and best practice. We are confident the new Standard moves our members forward on this course.”
“Version 5 FORS requirements and demonstrations will guide FORS members on how to run a safe, efficient and environmentally-sound operation,” said John Hix, adding, “their operation is in safe hands with the FORS Standard.”
