Achieving A Successful Delivery of Goods: Our SAFETY Checklist!

Local Buzz Marketing Uncategorized March 4, 2019delivery, haulage, Haulage Company in Cambridgeshire, journey, swannells transport 0 Comment

If you work for a haulage company in Cambridgeshire, you could probably relate when we say it’s a busy environment and there is a lot of responsibility involved. With this in mind, it’s not only important but vital that all goods are stored, packaged and loaded securely in order for a safe delivery.

We are Swannells Transport, a top-quality haulage company in Cambridgeshire. We are a passionate team determined to ensure safe delivery to all packages and goods held within our responsibility. To prove our worth, we have created our very own SAFETY checklist that you can follow when transporting and warehousing goods.

Securely loaded

All of these points are highly important, but our ‘S’ point is easily the most obvious. Anyone that works within the haulage industry that deals with warehousing, packaging or driving should be aware of the loading and unloading protocols they learnt in their training. To elaborate, all goods that are packaged up ready for delivery need to be securely loaded in the correct and effective manner. This includes packaging materials, the correct transport equipment i.e. the vehicle it’s loaded onto and the forklifts that are used to assist with both loading and unloading, and the equipment used to keep these things in place during the journey. Failure to do this can result in significant damage to the goods and a bad impression on the company.

Here at Swannells Transport, we offer excellent services like any other general haulage company in Cambridgeshire, but our teams are fully trained and committed to ensuring loads are safely and securely loaded and delivered on time and with big smiles!

All parts of your vehicle is checked

Before you leave for your journey, a thorough inspection of your vehicle is required. This includes checking tyre pressure, fuel, water and oil levels and also that the load isn’t breaking weight limit laws. Failure to do this can actually cause significant issues – not only could it affect delivery time, but it can generally be quite dangerous to you and other vehicles around you. For instance, if you suddenly break down in your particularly larger-sized vehicle, it will essentially be harder to pull over which can cause traffic jams or even accidents if done unsafely.

Follow the laws

Regardless if you are driving in a HGV, Ford Fiesta or you’re even a bike, it’s 100% mandatory that you follow the road and general laws whilst making a delivery. As a professional haulage company AND a human being, you should be aware that your vehicle is much larger than the others around you, which means you are much more dangerous and should be completely focused during the journey. This includes:

No usage of mobile phones during your journey.
Both eyes on the road at all times.
After 4 and a half hours of driving, it is a legal requirement that you stop in a safe place for resting. If you get tired before this, please stop in a safe place regardless.
You have valid and legal documents/registration showing you are qualified and permitted to drive these vehicles and makes these deliveries.

There are so many other laws and regulations, but we don’t want to completely bore you with them. As a professional haulage company in Cambridgeshire, we understand how vital it is to follow these rules to prevent accidents and serious damage to our vehicles, brand and more importantly, ourselves and others.

Everything needs a logo

This isn’t necessarily a mandatory move to ensure a safe drive, but it’s part of the branding process. You see, we don’t always mean safe as in protected from danger, but you also need to protect your brand too. That’s why, during the production, storage, packing, loading, unloading and delivery of your goods, you need to ensure your logo pops up in the best places. As a business owner, we hope you have an effective marketing strategy that helps with brand awareness and customer experience, because it is the exact thing that earns you business in the first place.

As a result of this, to ensure you keep your brand safe, make your logo pop up everywhere for some returning customers.

Time

Back to the journey now – when you are running out of time, you tend to begin rushing, which doesn’t always get things done correctly, completely, or even safely. In terms of haulage, we would recommend you allow plenty of journey time to prevent any accidents or damage. This includes saving time for traffic, rest, any emergency route changes etc. It makes you much more relaxed and concentrated – so make sure you do it!

You have a trustworthy team

Finally, our ‘Y’ point! To finalise a safe delivery, make sure you have a trustworthy team. This involves experience, health both mentally and physically and passion. This can make your company not only look impressive and reliable but be impressive and reliable too!

Swannells Transport: Haulage Company in Cambridgeshire…

Here at Swannells Transport, we are a respectful, experienced team of individuals here to help with all things warehousing, transport and general haulage company in Cambridge.

For all enquiries or more information, contact us today or visit Swannells Transport’s Facebook Page.

Thanks for reading.

HGV Work: How to be Safe

Local Buzz Marketing Latest news May 29, 2018hazards, HGV, journey, safe, Safety 0 Comment

You are responsible for your actions and your actions only. Whether you are an operator or a driver, it is your responsibility to make sure you/your employees and your vehicle are safe and prepared to be on the road. These protocols can range from vehicle checks to drug tests and could potentially stop you from causing a fatal accident. Here are 6 protocols you should undertake before leaving for a delivery.

Schedule and Plan Your Journey

As a worker, you should have an efficient system in place that will ensure you reach your destination in time. This includes taking into consideration potential congestion, weather conditions, learner drivers and road accidents, works or closures etc. Planning your journey allows you to be organised when on the road, decreasing the risk of getting distracted by maps or mobile phones.

In order to plan it, you need to be practical and must not jeopardise road safety. Meaning, you should allow time for general congestion and any other known disruptions that could affect your journey. Do this by taking into account your experience with driving your vehicle and how you feel about it – if you feel like you need to stay overnight, it’s vital that the security of your vehicle and load is highly secure.

Undertake Driver Training

Participating in driver training allows you to:

Be qualified.
Have a good knowledge of safety and the importance of it.
Be more reliable than someone that hasn’t received proper training.
Provide good customer service.
Contribute to the business’s positive image.

The training should cover all aspects of a driver’s work, and each individual duty should have some sort of practice procedure. When you are training, you should be covered on duties such as:

Emergencies.
Overnight stops.
Travelling abroad.
Safe, secure and legal loading.
Safe, secure and legal parking.
Safety of refuelling.
Correct driver behaviour.
Correct control of speed.

All of these procedures and the overall training doesn’t just concern new drivers, so don’t scroll just yet. You as a driver should ensure that you refresh your training to keep yourself up to date and valid. Whether it’s just read the driver manual/handbook frequently, it’s important that your knowledge is updated and you understand how to act safely and correctly on the road with an HGV.

Have Plenty of Rest

According to a survey completed by 4,000 anonymous HGV workers, 29% of them admitted to falling asleep at the wheel. The risk of a fatal accident is doubled with an HGV because of the size and weight of the vehicle, so it’s incredibly important that all responsible drivers avoid falling asleep at the wheel at all costs.

There are a number of ways you can be fully rested and prepared for a journey. Whether it’s early-morning or overnight, it’s always advised you have a rest and nutritional meal before departure, so you have the right energy levels to be on the road. It’s also recommended you check with your management about your shifts; if you feel like you are working too many hours, don’t ditch it, simply contact the team to try and resolve your fatigue.

Do Not Consume Alcohol or Drugs

Consuming alcohol and drugs can have a disastrous effect on your physical and mental wellbeing. That’s why it’s vital the management of all industries set out clear terms and consequences of these actions. Without these rules in this industry, it doesn’t just risk the employees, it puts all of the pedestrians and fellow road users that you come across in serious danger. So do you really think it is worth it?

Overall, as an operator, you should be introducing random drug tests so you are frequently monitoring your employees unexpectedly. This will also encourage your employees not to have it in either their possession or system. However, as an employee, if you decide to consume alcohol or take drugs before a long journey, you are potentially risking a large number of people’s lives, so just think.

Safe Load

It’s vital your vehicle is loaded safely and checked before departure. This is because overloading may cause the large vehicle to be difficult to control, making it a bigger hazard than it already is. Furthermore, overloaded vehicles can also cause damage to road surfaces, buildings, bridges and any other structures, also increasing the risk of an accident for not just you, but other fellow road users also.

Check The Weather

It’s fairly common for people to check the weather every morning, but if you don’t, you should start; The weather can affect the environment dramatically, depending on the severity of the forecast. For example, high winds can put vehicles at risk of being blown over and rain can affect the control, especially when they are large vehicles. The weather is usually notified to companies by the Highway Agency and weather forecasts. So, as an operator, we would recommend delaying your loaded vehicles’ departures and informing a driver already on the road to shelter in a safe place until further notice.

Thank you for reading. Be safe.