Suttons Group, December 2008

Suttons Group is an independent, privately owned, global logistics service provider, headquartered in Widnes, Cheshire, United Kingdom. For over 80 years Suttons has focused on successfully providing customers with safe, high quality, cost effective services with flexibility and innovation.

Suttons' Widnes depot has received the FTA's prestigious Roadworthiness Award. A special presentation took place where Suttons Group Managing Director, Andrew J Palmer received the award from Theo de Pencier, Chief Executive of FTA. The award was presented in recognition of the excellent standards of vehicle safety that Suttons' Widnes depot has achieved.

Delighted by this achievement, Mr Palmer, said, "Everyone at Suttons is thrilled to have won this highly regarded award which recognises our commitment to all aspects of vehicle safety. We have all put tremendous energy into making safety a top priority and this award is a credit to everyone in our high quality workforce and their exceptional contribution to our excellent safety record."

On presenting the award Mr de Pencier said, "Suttons' Widnes depot is a deserving winner of the FTA 2008 Roadworthiness Award. During our independent roadworthiness and maintenance inspections over the last 12 months, Suttons has achieved very high standards that are well above industry sector and national standards."

Magnox South Ltd, December 2008

Magnox South Ltd is currently responsible for decommissioning five nuclear sites on behalf of its owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Of the 10 nuclear sites operated by Magnox Electric Ltd (recently divided into Magnox North Ltd and Magnox South Ltd), Sizewell A vehicles were found to be the best maintained, the most compliant and had the least number of safety defects.

Sizewell A is a well deserved winner of an FTA Roadworthiness Award.

FTA engineers visit all 10 locations on a frequent basis to carry out detailed checks on the vehicles to ensure they are kept in a safe and compliant state.

Perry Mann, Magnox South’s Transport Manager, accepted the award on behalf of his team, which is responsible for maintaining all the vehicles on site at Sizewell.

David Wylie, FTA said: "All 10 sites across Magnox Electric Ltd have shown a very high standard of compliance, however Sizewell A’s vehicles have been the safest and most compliant over the past year. Developed to encourage and reward high standards of compliance with vehicle condition legislation, these prestigious awards highlight members' efforts to keep their fleets safe, legal and reliable."

Magnox South 'heritage' vehicle in the background is a 1965 Scammell, which is the oldest hgv FTA currently inspects on a regular basis.

Greggs plc, Leeds, November 2008

Greggs plc is the UK's leading bakery retailer. With around 1,400 shops nationwide, it serves approximately five million customers each week. With 10 divisions throughout the UK from Scotland to the south coasts of England and Wales, it operates over 240 hgv vehicles out of 13 regional distribution centres.

Greggs has now been using the FTA's Vehicle Inspection Service for over five years. During this period FTA has helped the transport management team monitor, control and fine tune the systems and procedures surrounding operating a very large fleet of commercial vehicles. FTA's Fleet Management Information Service provided Greggs with a detailed analysis of the condition of its fleet maintenance arrangements and systems, outlining their effects on the efficiency of Greggs’ business and training needs.

Winning depot - Greggs of Yorkshire (Leeds) came out on top because of its outstanding performance in the 2008 audits which cover not only vehicle condition but driver defect reporting and maintenance system audits.

Greggs of Yorkshire Fleet Manager Mick Clark said:

 “It is a great honour to have our work acknowledged by FTA. By working as a team, the Transport Department at Greggs of Yorkshire has become a more professional distribution operation, which is a credit to us all. With continued support from FTA we can hopefully expand our success across the whole Greggs plc fleet.”

Richard Penna, Group Logistics Manager, said: “FTA’s Vehicle Inspection Service has given me the information to make key changes to our maintenance arrangements, systems and contracts. We can trust FTA to provide accurate, impartial results from its skilled engineers. FTA audit results are an integral part of our transport and logistics KPIs. We are therefore delighted to receive one of FTA's Roadworthiness Awards in recognition of all the hard work in recent years by the fleet management team."

Stobart Group, Carlisle Depot - November 2008

Stobart Group is one of the UK's leading providers of multimodal transport and logistic solutions; incorporating road, rail, sea and air. It also provides specialist handling and storage services. The group operates over 1,850 trucks and six million square feet of warehousing and employs more than 5,300 people in the UK, Ireland and Europe. Core to Stobart Group's strategy is reducing environmental waste through providing innovative transport solutions and efficient utilisation of its fleet. Stobart works in partnership with its customers to offer transparency in pricing enabling them to share both risk and reward.

FTA have provided independent auditing services to help ensure Stobart Group vehicles remain safe, legal and reliable through carrying out vehicle inspections at numerous key sites within the business. Lee Scarlett of FTA is pictured here presenting the award to Chris Brown, Depot Manager from the Carlise depot, who received the roadworthiness award for consistently having the lowest number of safety related items found on the fleet and a very strong performance in controlling driver related defect reporting.

Willi Betz - October 2008

Since starting in 1945 Willi Betz has grown to become a byword for Europe's biggest haulage company, now offering logistics solutions in the UK. Steve Houseman, Fleet Engineer for Willi Betz UK Ltd is pictured here receiving his Roadworthiness Award at Hilton Depot near Derby.

Following a year which saw Willi Betz increase their UK fleet size, Steve (pictured left) continued to maintain the highest roadworthiness standards at their Derby site with the help of FTA Audit Services.

Mr Hans Wassermeyer, Company Director of Willi Betz UK Ltd added "We are honoured to have been presented with this award and we are committed to raise the set standards, with the help of FTA."

Robert Wiseman Dairies - September 2008

Robert Wiseman Dairies procures, processes and delivers liquid milk to customers throughout Great Britain. Operating from seven major processing dairies in Aberdeen, East Kilbride, Glasgow, Manchester, Droitwich Spa, Okehampton and Bridgwater; the company consistently provides a high quality product and has a strong diverse customer base, in both the multiple and independent sector. In recent years, Robert Wiseman Dairies has expanded its business with the multiples so that, now, the company is a major supplier to many of the sector's leading players.

FTA has a long standing contract to carrying out quality monitoring inspections on Robert Wiseman Dairies fleet of vehicles on a national basis to help the fleet management team control, benchmark and improve the roadworthiness and legal compliance of their very large fleet of vehicles. Using both internal statistical data and FTA's Fleet Management Information reports, we were able to identify West Central Scotland Workshops and RDC's -  (East Kilbride and Sub workshops Glasgow and Bellshill) as the 2008 Roadworthiness Award winner within Robert Wiseman Dairies operation.

Mr John Kirk, Group Transport Manager, said , "We are proud to be part of FTA's Roadworthiness Awards scheme, it’s a great way of recognising the hard work and skills of our workshop staff who are key to providing a safe and effective supply chain to our customers."

BP Gas Perth - September 2008

BP Gas has a large and varied national customer base including domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural users of bulk or bottled LPG and auto gas, totalling nearly 16,000 direct customers and 100,000 users of bottled gas. BP has grown through acquisition and natural expansion to provide an integrated service across the whole of the UK and supplies LPG wholesale to major players such as Calor, Shell and Flogas.

BP Gas has used FTA's Vehicle Inspection Service since 1984 to carry out safety inspections and audit the fleet condition via FTA's Fleet Management Information service. They are a very safety conscious member and no more so then at the Perth depot where they still carry out vehicle inspections and repairs on-site with their own engineer.

FTA's Fleet Management Information highlighted that the Perth depot had a very high level of compliance with regards to vehicle roadworthiness in areas of vehicle condition and driver defect reporting qualifying them to become the 2008 winner of FTA's roadworthiness award within the BP Gas operation. Perth depot manager Mr Wayne Hoole said " I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of the whole team at Perth depot for both engineering and driving staff".

Highland Fuels - August 2008

Highland Fuels is one of the largest fuel oil distributors in Scotland and have been associated with Esso since the company was founded in 1960. Its head office remains in Inverness, although the company has steadily expanded over the years. Today Highland Fuels is Esso's Authorised Distributor of fuel oils and lubricants throughout mainland Scotland as well as depots in Orkney and Shetland. FTA's Audit Services has a longstanding auditing contract to help ensure Highland Fuels' fleet of tankers remains safe, legal and reliable, through carrying out vehicle and tank/equipment inspections.

Douglas Darge, (pictured) has been Inverness depot manager for three years. He received the roadworthiness award for consistently having the lowest number of safety related items found on his fleet of tankers, and a very strong performance in controlling driver related defect reporting.

Viridor (South East) - June 2008

FTA's Vehicle Inspection Service has been engaged since January 2007 to carry out quality monitoring inspections. Each vehicle in the fleet is inspected at least once per annum, post service. These inspections are carried out randomly so the service provider is never certain which vehicle will be inspected or indeed when. As a direct result of FTA inspections, in 12 months Viridor South East has increased its MOT first time pass rate from 80 per cent to 90 per cent. Paul Riley, South East Regional Vehicle and Plant Engineer at Viridor said: "The waste industry is a particularly tough operating environment for trucks, with constant stop-starts and the attendant risk of vehicle damage at landfill sites. The cutting edge systems we have put in place ensure excellent levels of reliability and efficiency. It is great news to be recognised for our efforts by FTA."

Keith Parry, Business Development Manager for FTA, on presenting the award said, "FTA has been impressed by the speed and effectiveness with which Viridor has improved its servicing regime. Quality monitoring is vital to ensure the running of a safe, legal and compliant fleet."

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue - May 2008

SFR Fleet Services Department workshop in Glasgow is the worthy winner of an FTA Roadworthiness Award 2008, for high standards achieved and continuous improvement in vehicle condition as benchmarked within this sector. The award was presented to Ronnie McMillan, Manager of Glasgow Vehicle Workshop, by David Wylie, Head of Contract Management at FTA. Ronnie McMillan stated "I am delighted to accept the award on behalf of everyone at Glasgow Vehicle Workshops in recognition of our commitment to provide a high standard of service support and maintenance to all our colleagues in the fire service".

Volvo Truck and Bus Centre Scotland, Edinburgh dealership - May 2008

David Wylie, FTA's Head of Contract Management was delighted to be able to hand over a Roadworthiness Award 2008 to Martin Merrick, After Market Director and Neil Park, Retail Development Manager on behalf of the Edinburgh dealerpoint that won this year's award. The winning dealerpoint was selected as it had the lowest number of safety-related defects found on FTA's quality monitoring inspection reports, and the highest MOT pass rate within the group. Neil Park said "I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of Edinburgh dealerpoint. We constantly strive to ensure vehicles leave our care in a safe, legal and roadworthy condition after every visit and improve further on our initial MOT pass rate, which is currently running at over 93 per cent across the group".