Taygroup achieve Freight Operator Recognition Scheme award UPDATE

Taygroup are an active member of Transport for London’s FORS (Freight Operator Recognition Scheme) initiative.

Members of the scheme are required to demonstrate a number of competencies which are then audited by the Commercial Vehicle Education Unit of the Metropolitan Police. The FORS specification standards cover four main criteria:

1. Fleet Management
2. Driver Management
3. Performance Management (KPI’s)
4. Transport Operations

Compliance to this initiative is recognised with the FORS Bronze award.

In order to upgrade the award to Silver, a participating organisation must be able to track its fuel usage and Co2 emissions accurately. The data collated is then submitted for on-line benchmarking so that comparisons may be made against similar operators.

Taygroup are one of only 19 companies to have been awarded the Silver category for FORS. The criteria for the Gold category will be announced later in 2010.

At a presentation ceremony in central London in December, Operations Director for Taygroup, Lloyd Dennaford, received the Silver award from the Transport Advisor to the Mayor of London, Kulveer Ranger, who went on to say:

“I am delighted to present the first FORS Silver accreditations to the freight industry. Both the Mayor and TfL recognise how essential the freight industry is to the Capital and the Mayor's Transport Strategy aims to improve the distribution of freight across the capital. Working together we will ensure that the industry, which is the second largest road user, can operate safely, efficiently, and cleanly to the benefit of all."

Ben Plowden, Director of Integrated Programs for TfL said:

“The FORS scheme is a simple yet effective way of improving communication and use of best practice within the freight trade. Not only does the scheme help to improve safety and fairness throughout the industry, it also publicly recognises organisations where these standards are being consistently achieved.”

Group Quality Manager for Taygroup, Lloyd Briscoe, considers FORS to be a complimentary supplement to its own in-house quality management system, and was pleased to entertain initiatives involving safety and environment-friendly solutions.