The Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme, or FORS for short, is viewed by many as the most convenient way of ensuring that your delivery work is always in line with the necessary regulations and meeting best practice standards. If you’re a fleet manager, an independent driver or you work for a big company, being aligned with FORS is essential to ensuring that you maintain high standards throughout your delivery work.
FORS offers a selection of very helpful guides, including their latest one on tyre management. This will provide you with excellent information on how tyre wear can impact on safety, profitability and the environment.
It is a FORS Bronze requirement to have an effective tyre management policy in place, alongside the procedures that support the policy to ensure that tyres are managed properly, and that performance and environmental standards are all met.
Why it Matters
Even if you’re someone who has been involved in delivery work for many years, it’s important to remember that things do change. Technology moves forward and sometimes bad habits can even impact on safety, so a guide like this one is a great way to ensure that you stay up to date.
Is the Programme for You?
This online programme is for anyone who does delivery work. This includes everything from a small passenger vehicle to vans and HGVs, and it is aimed at ensuring that you get the most out of your tyres whilst also meeting personal well-being and environmental requirements. So the answer is a resounding yes!
What’s Included
It covers everything you need to know about how tyre management affects fuel efficiency, safety and emissions. A big first step to improving your driving practices is to understand the impact of tyre management and the steps you can take to ensure that you don’t fall short in that department.
With help, you’ll be able to create a tailored policy to cover you and your colleagues, taking into account:
● Wheel security
● Tyre selection
● Impact of over-inflation on braking distance and driving performance
● Impact of under-inflation on CO2 and NO2 emissions
● Tread depths and re-treading
● Fines involved in driving with unroadworthy tyres
● Impact of mismanaged inflation on fuel consumption
A Summary
On top of the excellent advice on how to improve driving performance, safety and environmental standards, the FORS guide also includes some excellent policy and procedural checklists so that you can keep track of how your new approach is going.
The importance of staying vigilant when it comes to issues such as tyre management cannot be overstated. For those involved in delivery work, a well-thought out policy on this issue can have a huge impact on driving performance, whilst also limiting emissions and making sure that your business is as green and efficient as possible.
Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world's largest neutral trading hub for same day delivery work in the express freight exchange industry. Numerous transport exchange businesses are networked together on their website, trading jobs and capacity through what is now the fastest growing Freight Exchange in the UK.
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