MTS Cleansing Services began its FORS journey in June 2019, undertaking an initial FORS Bronze audit for 42 trucks and vans at its principal location in Rochester. The organisation progressed through the different levels of the scheme, achieving FORS Gold accreditation in April this year.
The company’s head of fleet and compliance, Richard Fletcher, is a qualified FORS practitioner after completing the certification requirement of ten fleet management training modules. MTS Cleansing Services also employs academy manager Charlotte Taylor, who is responsible for training. Today, MTS drivers are provided with FORS Toolbox Talks, toolkits and other guidance.
Taylor said: “After becoming FORS Bronze accredited, we realised FORS was able to provide a consistent and reliable audit service. This ensured all our vehicles running out of Rochester, and our fleet operations generally, were legally compliant, safe and efficient. This provided the impetus to go on the FORS journey to achieve even higher levels of best practice. Then, our HS2 work presented us with a contractual requirement to attain FORS Silver, and this has certainly led to new business wins elsewhere.
“Very soon after, and though there was no specific business requirement, we set our sights on FORS Gold – to hit the highest quality levels of fleet management – and this is where the FORS training has become fundamental to fleet efficiency, especially helping drivers become even safer and even more productive. We’ve been FORS Gold for a few months now and we’re very well motivated to maintain our high-performance levels going forward. Furthermore, the DVSA, when performing spot checks on our vehicles, appear very satisfied with our FORS Gold accreditation, and we’ve experienced no issues as a result.”