Posted on 23rd Jan 2019
Commercial driving is a tough business. It takes a certain kind of person to travel the thousands of annual miles the job entails. Even in good conditions, it’s an exacting trade and the onset of severe winter weather brings additional challenges to the role.
That’s why the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) winter driving and fuel efficiency guides are so useful. These publications offer a comprehensive digest on how fleet drivers can mitigate the worst of the winter weather on both themselves and their vehicle. The accompanying fuel management guide covers the essential knowledge and skills required to drive in a way that promotes fuel efficiency.
The FORS winter driving and fuel management guides offer a wealth of invaluable information to the commercial driver. They so useful it’s recommended they form part of a driver’s continual professional development and that they are issued for use as and when required.
Download the FORS Winter Guide (PDF 3MB) >>
This is such a valuable document. It offers clear, simple checklists for drivers for when they inevitably tackle difficult driving conditions. These include reminders to check the weather forecast, plan the most effective routes and how to prepare for emergencies.
The advice includes essential vehicle checks and handy equipment to carry for when conditions deteriorate. This includes a list of the vital kit to have ready should a driver become stranded.
Perhaps most important, the FORS winter driving guide gives clear guidance on how to drive safely in fog, snow, ice, heavy rain, in flooded areas and in the face of high winds. All the advice is written in a clear, common sense way and provides a useful aide-memoire for even the most experienced commercial drivers.
Like the FORS winter driving guide, this publication offers a wealth of information that helps drivers to work in a way that promotes fuel efficiency. Fleet managers the world over know fuel management is one of the most pressing issues in their business not to mention the environmental impacts that come with inefficient fuel use.
The fuel management guide gives easy to use guidance based on the simple mantra: if you can measure it, you can control it. It covers areas like purchasing fuel, fuel storage, monitoring and measuring fuel use using technology and, of course, how driver behaviour and training can help to preserve fuel and reduce harmful emissions.
One particularly interesting aspect of the fuel management guide is that businesses consider the use of alternative technologies and add-on systems that can contribute to fuel efficiency.
This is an area where Truckcraft Bodies have been developing innovative products for the commercial vehicle market. This includes designing vehicles fitted with TRAILAR’s solar technology. These truck bodies can deliver up to 5% fuel efficiency savings and substantially reduce CO2 emissions. Better still, this technology makes our vehicles much more reliable, which is hugely important for when weather conditions deteriorate.
Both the FORS winter driving guide and fuel management booklet offer invaluable knowledge that should ideally be used to train drivers on how to reduce fuel costs and on safe driving practice for when the weather turns foul.
The guides are available from the FORS website, and we commend them for the practical and pro-industry advice they provide.
For more information or a demonstration of any of the TRAILAR-enabled Truckcraft range, please contact the Truckcraft Bodies sales team on 0161 304 9404. Alternatively, email glen.pinder@truckcraftbodies.co.uk or emma.jane@truckcraftbodies.co.uk.