Paul Smart Transport Limited is a family owned and operated Haulage Company based in Felton near Bristol. Paul Smart started the business in 1994 with just one truck. The transport team is now headed up by his daughter Kate and they operate a fleet of 10 rigid trucks, 12 bulk tippers, 2 bulk walking floor trailers and 3 skeletal trailers, transporting aggregates, asphalt, animal feed, grain and containers around the UK.
Kate Smart-Cooke, Transport Manager, explains how Paul Smart Transport Ltd have made significant reductions in fuel usage, reduced CO2 emissions and benefitted from achieving FORS Gold and what FORS means to the company.
We first heard about FORS in 2013 when tendering for work in London and soon became Bronze and then Silver accredited which enabled us to tender for more work, as well as becoming a safer and more efficient fleet. We became FORS Gold accredited in November 2018 and have maintained Gold ever since. The benefits of FORS have seen us hugely improve the safety of our vehicles, improve our fuel efficiency and reduce our environmental impact.
We passed our Gold audit first time round. This was a huge achievement for us and showed us that we fully understood the FORS standard and exactly what FORS aims to achieve.
Over the past 3 years, we have continued to manage our fuel usage and monitor our emissions output per vehicle and we have continued to educate our drivers on how these areas can be improved through on the job and classroom-based learning. We actively monitor our drivers’ use of the FORS e-learning available to them and ensure that they complete the Cycle Safety training and Locity training every year, as well as attend a LoCity Course every two years and a Safe Urban Driving Course at every five years.
We also feel that it is important to train our management team and have a manager who has gained both their FORS Practitioner certificate and FORS Road Collision Investigator certificate.
‘Safety is one of our core values and FORS has enabled us to train our drivers to a very high standard’ Paul Smart, Director
It has been important for us to maintain FORS Gold as it most importantly, has increased our awareness of vulnerable road user’s safety and all trucks are now fitted with the latest safety equipment such as side scan, 360° recording cameras, audible left and right turn warnings, Class IV, V and VI mirrors and prominent cyclist safety signage. It has also aided us in gaining work which we wouldn’t have been considered for if we weren’t Gold Accredited.
‘Since gaining my FORS Practitioner recertification this year, I feel as a company we are up to date on FORS safe practice and the latest FORS regulations.’ Kate Smart-Cooke, Transport Manager
Since becoming FORS Gold, we have seen a decrease in our CO2 output, incidents and PCN’s. We are continually monitoring our fuel efficiency and emissions; we operate two telematics systems side by side which enables us to utilise data more accurately. Through keeping accurate telematic and KPI records, we are able to carry out ongoing progressive, proactive improvements. We carried out a fleet replacement programme, replacing Euro V vehicles with Euro VI vehicles, resulting in lower emissions and reducing our carbon footprint. Through online, classroom and on the job training, we have actively improved our incident rate and number of PCN’s. We have invested over £1.6m into Euro VI trucks in the last 4 years.
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Incidents per year | CO2 per vehicle | NOx per vehicle | PM10 per vehicle | Number of PCNs | Vehicles that use alternative fuels |
| Year 1 | 4 | 80.92 | 170.56 | 3.11 | 2 | 0 |
| Year 2 | 3 | 63.32 | 133.47 | 2.43 | 3 | 0 |
| Year 3 | 4 | 63.14 | 133.09 | 2.43 | 2 | 0 |
Driver health and fitness review – at Paul Smart Transport Ltd, all drivers all drivers undergo a comprehensive fitness and health review before they are permitted to operate a vehicle for the first time and then every three years thereafter. We also check driver’s eyesight every six months.
- Strategy for recruiting drivers – we currently recruit using three methods. We use social media, magazine / newspaper adverts and through referrals. Social media seems to be one of our most effective ways of recruiting. Through regular posts, young people are engaging, and we have put two young drivers through an HGV apprenticeship, introducing them into the industry.
- Noise assessment – we have a Noise at Work policy and we carry out regular noise assessments. We have significantly reduced the noise levels at our depot. We also issue all drivers with a toolbox talk on reducing noise. All of the quarries our vehicles load from and most of the sites our vehicles deliver to already have noise management plans in place, which our drivers adhere to.
- Modal shift and alternative vehicles – we operate 32 ton and 44 ton bulk tippers and it is currently not possible to modal shift or have alternative fuelled vehicles. However, we have been working with Scania developing its new generation trucks which are lower in emissions and more fuel efficient. We operated a masked prototype for over two years, which was then subsequently launched by Scania as their construction XT range.
In 2018 Paul Smart, the founder of Paul Smart Transport Ltd celebrated 25 years in business and set a goal to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK. To date, we have raised over £100,000!
To conclude, we were proud to maintain FORS Gold accreditation and have become a safer and more efficiently run company. In doing so, we have demonstrated a greater trust to both our customers and to vulnerable road users, showing that Paul Smart Transport take the safety of other road users extremely seriously.
Website – www.paulsmarttransport.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/PaulSmartTransportLtd