Tuesday February 27, 2018
McGee has successfully retained its Gold status under the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) for the fourth year in a row.
With 4,700 members, FORS is gaining recognition as the transport industry’s go-to accreditation scheme. FORS encompasses all aspects of safety, efficiency, and environmental protection by encouraging and training fleet operators to measure, monitor and improve performance. McGee is one of only 85 Nationwide FORS Gold accredited organisations within the construction sector.
McGee has a 50-strong fleet of heavy goods vehicles including their iconic ‘McGee yellow tippers’, bin lorries, sweepers, medium and large flat lorries, articulated tractors, trailers and low loaders.
Ash Gami, Transport Manager at McGee commented:
“Achieving FORS Gold for a fourth consecutive year is something we are exceptionally proud of. We continue to invest a lot of time and resource in our ongoing commitment to safety, environmental impact and efficient fleet management, undertaking a host of initiatives to maintain our high standards. We are always looking to be innovative and dynamic in our approach.” Some of these initiatives are detailed below.
Euro 6
The McGee fleet is currently seeing substantial investment to ensure compliance with the Low Emission Zone standards for exhaust emissions, NOx, and other pollutants. This includes welcoming a number of new Euro 6 compliant tipper lorries to the fleet in 2018. By 2019 McGee will have a full fleet of Euro 6 compliant vehicles.
Technology and Logistics
Logistically, the removal of earth and demolition materials in a busy inner-city environment is one of McGee’s biggest challenges. However, through a multi technology-based solution and military-style logistics planning, competent on-site management teams, off-site support from the McGee Transport team, and support from a multitude of local stakeholders, McGee is equipped to deliver hugely challenging and ambitious projects for its clients. It’s an approach that was recognised at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Awards for Excellence 2017 where McGee was presented with the ‘Freight Transport Best Practice’ Award, sponsored by FORS.
Training & Events
McGee is committed to educating their drivers about the best way to share the road and pride themselves on high standards of training. All drivers are CPC Driver trained and have CSCS cards. Drivers are assessed monthly and attend regular training courses, including Safe Urban Driving; Safeguarding Vulnerable Road Users; Terrorism Risk & Incident Prevention and Vehicle Familiarisation & Safe Driving Techniques. McGee’s Transport Managers are qualified FORS Practitioners.
As well as formal driver training, the company promotes safety through initiatives such as taking part in UK Road Safety Week.
McGee’s Transport team regularly attends workshops, meetings, exhibitions and conferences to support CLOCS, FORS, the City of London Corporation and Construction Industry Cycling Commission, to name but a few.
From providing the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police with vehicles for their ‘Exchanging Places’ programmes to delivering lessons in road safety to primary school children – It’s all part of their calendar of events that sees McGee actively contributing to the communities within which they work.
Adapted Safety Enhancements
All McGee lorries are fitted with safety features which are in addition to the manufacturers’ specifications.
Maintenance & Daily Vehicle Inspections
Their bespoke multi-award winning Vehicle Inspection Mobile Application, which utilises Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, requires drivers to carry out a daily 360° physical inspection of their vehicle. The app is fully auditable; driver authenticated and quickly and efficiently identifies vehicle defects. Its automated reporting ensures compliance and total records management.
Fleet Tracking System
McGee’s aim is to reduce congestion around their sites. Therefore, Logistics Co-ordinators are able to track all McGee lorry movements in real-time using tracking software which assists with monitoring site congestion and re-routing vehicles if necessary. This system is just one part of a multi-faceted technology-based solution that helps them to operate safely, efficiently, reliably and compliantly, whilst minimising their impact on the environment.
In partnership with Nottingham Trent University
Recognising that trucks are disproportionately involved in collisions involving cyclists and pedestrians, in 2016 McGee embarked on a journey with BSc (Hons) Product Design students at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) to come up with ways to improve safety for cyclists and other vulnerable road users by designing a retrofitted system for an existing tipper truck – the outputs of which continue to be developed in 2018 with real world testing and validation in collaboration with McGee, NTU and a student from the course who was welcomed into the business for a 12 month industry placement.
The McGee/NTU partnership has gone from strength to strength – winning two Brake Fleet Safety Awards 2016 in the Innovation and Partnership categories and being invited to a number of industry and academic conferences both in the UK and abroad to talk more about the collaboration.
There will also be opportunities for public engagement in the coming months through cutting-edge research to validate the project so watch this space.