Based in North Lincolnshire, Freightmaster is a small General Haulier specialising in delivering large/obscure concrete panels and beams for major city constructions. We currently have 8 vehicles in our fleet. We have replaced all of our existing FORS vehicles with 2 new MAN 44 tonne euro 6 tractor units in the summer of 2020, 4 new MAN 44 tonne euro 6 tractor units in January 2021 and 2 new DAF 44 tonne euro 6 in 2019.

We have been a member of FORS since 2013. This was initially due to a contractual agreement, due to most of our delivering sites being in London. We quickly saw the benefit that FORS provided to our company so made the progression to Silver in 2014 then to Gold in 2018.

We passed the initial Bronze audit first time round and to demonstrate our commitment to road safety, we were keen to progress to Silver. To do this we made the most of the benefits on offer from FORS. We have taken advantage of the additional trailer provided for both managers, the FORS Practitioners workshops, and the drivers, FORS Safe Urban Driving.

Our Transport Managers attended the FORS Practitioners workshops, and the knowledge and experience gained from the courses gave them the tools to produce the necessary documentation and evidence required to maintain our gold status. Our drivers have benefitted from the FORS Safe Urban Driving training with the added bonus that they were credited with DCPC hours as well on completion of the course. The drivers found it beneficial to see things from a cyclist’s perspective and now benefit from better visibility in trucks due to upgraded camera technology.

The FORS e-learning courses have proved to be an invaluable asset to help teach the drivers and prepare them for large city deliveries and keep them compliant. Drivers have also been part of the progression in FORS through the e-learning which has helped keep them interested. This has also made them feel more part of what we are trying to achieve and maintain as a company.

‘FORS enables us to make meaningful improvements in our safety, performance and environmental impact’

‘FORS has given us the tools to enhance our own internal training by using the free e- learning training and also the toolbox talks available on their website which help bring staff, experiences and best practices together. The diverse courses now enable to increase our driver knowledge beyond dcpc courses’ Jo Oakley Transport Manager

We have a comprehensive driver fitness and health annual questionnaire along with a fitness to driver policy, which is in addition to the eyesight checks and drink and dugs policy that we also carry out.

Recruitment of drivers – provide information about your strategy to engage in industry initiatives to encourage new drivers into the industry and how your strategy has helped

We have a modern fleet that now has an eco-package fitted and has a cut out on the engine to stop idling. This is all in an effort to reduce noise pollution and emissions. We have replaced the noise reducing matting on all panel carrying trailers with the aim to keep noise pollution down from our operational activity as much as possible.

We have explored the opportunity to electric or alternatively fuelled vehicles however due to the nature of our contracts, the transition is unachievable at this time, but we will continue to reassess the cost and practicality as future technologies advance.

We still have a commitment to continuous improvement at Freightmaster. We have seen a decrease in our emissions and continue to try and reduce them further as technology advances. Our aim going forward is to continue to promote the FORS standard, further invest in the FORS available courses for both drivers and managers to help increase fuel efficiency, reduce incidents, and increase overall image and safety.

We have the FORS logo on all tractor units and also have the logo on the bottom of all emails. We have encouraged our subcontractors to invest in the FORS standard in order for them to do our FORS work. We currently have 2 of our recommended companies that have started proceedings towards the FORS standard

We have been gold members since 2018 which shows the dedication we have as a company to improving road safety and the safety of all vulnerable road users not just in

London but on a national scale. It has been an ongoing ambition for us to retain our FORS Gold status, it not only shows our continued hard work but also raises the bar of standards.

http://www.freightmaster.ltd.uk/

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