This safety forum in March 2022 looked at what all stakeholders should be considering within their own operations and also across their supply chains. We talked about subjects such as driver training, loading (and overloading), the use of telematics and some of the challenges unique to light commercial vehicles, with all attendees hopefully walking away with a greater appreciation of how this ‘forgotten fleet’ should be considered with some useful information and best practice ideas to take away.

The Forum heard from three speakers:

1. Adrian Wanford, Group Transport Compliance Manager for Balfour Beatty
2. Gareth Jones, Group Fleet Compliance Manager for Speedy Services
3. Derek Hart, Fleet Specialist from Lightfoot.

Each shared their thoughts and insights on the challenges that van fleets present and shared some ideas/suggestions that delegates can take away.

Adrian talked about how Balfour Beatty manage their own fleet, covering vehicles, drivers and journeys, touching upon standards that are in place and the numerous checks that exist to ensure these standards are maintained at all times.

Gareth talking about the new issue of towing entitlement which could lead to many van drivers, inexperienced with towing, being asked to do so, in order to increase capacity. This presents many risks to the driver and other vulnerable road users and it is clearly something that all fleet operators should be considering very carefully.

Further guidance on the rules can be found here.

Finally, Derek closed off by talking in more general terms about the safety culture within the industry and some of the differences between on site and offsite.

One delegate also suggested the Driving for Better Business Van Driver Toolkit as a useful source of information and other resources.

Looking forward

It was another thought-provoking session with over 70 stakeholders tuning in, the biggest audience yet for a CLOCS Safety Forum. It is now important that everyone considers what they heard and make changes where necessary.

The main requirement for CLOCS, as before, is to capture and share best practice to raise awareness of what could/should be done and to improve standards.

Immediate Actions

1. Operations with vans within their fleets should consider the standards in place, and the checks implemented to maintain those standards.

2. Operations with van drivers should have a robust understanding of the rules around towing and ensure that any situation where a van is asked to tow is properly risk assessed.

3. Procurers should consider what requirements are stipulated for vans serving their operations and think about whether a more robust approach could help with reducing risk to vulnerable road users.

4. Anyone who wants further information could visit the Driving for Better Business website and look at the resources available within the Van Driver toolkit.

5. All Champions are asked to share examples of best practice from their own companies and projects and these can be emailed to the CLOCS team at enquiries@clocs.org.uk.

And finally …

Our thanks to those who contributed directly to this Forum and also those who attended, sharing insights and experiences. The voice of Champions is vital to the success of CLOCS so please contact the team if you have any queries, suggestions or concerns about any aspect of CLOCS.

CLOCS needs you

These Safety Forums are designed to support and inform Champions so please do let us know if you have any suggestions for future topics or whether you, or someone you know, would want to come along to a future Forum and share insights and experiences on a particular topic.

If you can think or anything or anyone, please contact Andy Brooke at andy@secbe.org.uk.