Last year, Pershore-based White became only one of 12 operators to achieve the gold standard in the Opcom legal compliance scheme. This involves twice-yearly independent audits to see if best practice is being applied by management and drivers.
Involvement with Opcom started in 2002 and was partly prompted by a change of ownership. Since then, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act of 2007 has sharpened resolve to do everything by the book. As a result, premiums have fallen by around 40% over the last eight years.
“If any driver did something silly that came under the Act, you have to show that you have been doing everything possible to prevent it,” explains Holland. “In this kind of industry, you can’t afford to have anything fall below the radar.”
Holland keeps tabs on compliance issues through daily briefings with the traffic managers and Steve King, the health, safety and training manager.
“We have a daily agenda for what’s happened in the last 24 hours and what will happen in the next 24 hours,” says Holland. “It’s a way of nipping things in the bud. A transport manager may say ‘I’ve a new load that we’re starting to pick up’ . Steve will look to see if the load restraints are OK for that and that drivers are properly trained to strap that load down.”
White’s fleet of more than 50 trucks is mostly maintained through contracts with dealers. “We still do spot checks on them when they come back,” says Holland. “We’ve never found anything life threatening, but it’s making sure we’re doing everything we can to do the job correctly.” An on-site garage maintains older vehicles as well as the company’s 40 trailers.
Food for thought
Deliveries cover everything from furniture to fresh food. The company is also part of the Palletforce network and its use of Danish trolleys for plant deliveries requires particular care to ensure they are properly strapped down.
Such variety of work means that drivers need to be adaptable and few chances are taken when recruiting them.
King takes applicants for an initial assessment and, if appointed, they undergo a day’s induction. This is followed by two further days going out with one of White’s senior drivers to reinforce the initial training.
“On the fourth day, we hand-pick a nice gentle run for them so they can be eased into the job very carefully,” says King. If drivers are subsequently found wanting, they undergo further training and, if unsuccessful, their contract may be terminated after a three-month probationary period. Agency drivers have to be accredited by King before being used.
King was taken on in 2007 after it became apparent that the Opcom system was not proving fully effective. “By sharing the responsibility for implementation among other managers, it was hard to control and went off track,” recalls Holland, adding that more emphasis can now be put on training because King does not shoulder any operational duties.
King has been trained as an instructor for the Driver CPC and uses training materials provided by an external contractor. “The majority of drivers are very enthusiastic about the training,” says Holland. “They realise that it’s a cost they should have to pay themselves, but we’re planning to give them one day’s training a year.”
Road Skills, the company behind Opcom, provides training for any new legislation that has an impact on drivers. King implements this either by talking to drivers individually or in groups to make sure the message gets across. They then have to sign to show that they have understood it.
Pride in their job is encouraged through a bonus system, and payments are withdrawn when standards set by Opcom are not met. “But they wouldn’t lose bonus for not getting to a delivery on time because of traffic,” Holland points out.
He believes that setting high standards instils a sense of pride and this in turn reduces driver turnover. “In the last two years, we’ve probably only lost six drivers who have been with us for more than six months.”
