There's 30 tonnes of granite here for Mr Selfridge...
Here's GK12 delivering granite chippings and TS6 topsoil for GreenBlue Urban to the very heart of London's West End shopping.
Posts tagged with “Haulage”
FORS Gold again!
FORS - the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme - is an accreditation scheme promoting best practice for commercial vehicle operators. The aim is to drive up the standards for safety, efficiency and environmental protection and accredited members of the scheme are required to show commitment to such standards well beyond the minimum legal requirements. There are three levels: bronze, silver and gold; each requiring increasingly stringent audits and evidence.
The FORS Association manages the standard and provides training and case studies, showing how being FORS accredited helps operators across the industry. There are now over 4,700 members but fewer than 800 have so far reached the Gold level. Many delivery contracts in London, in particular, now require the operator to be FORS accredited.
John Bourne & Co were early adoptors of the scheme, in line with our commitment to delivering the highest quality of service. We reached Gold status in 2016 and we have now passed our first regular audit, with Gold standard confirmed for another two years.
(See also the post on CLOCS.)
A day in a grab lorry (3)
Near Esher, (where I was going the following day for the Futurescape exhibition), we stopped to load 26 cubic metres of woodland mulch. John's skill with the grab was very much in evidence as he not only loaded from the main pile of mulch at the yard, but also tidied up bits of mulch which had been strewn about and very neatly packed down the mulch in the lorry to ensure a full load, while avoiding spreading the top layers all over the M25 when we later got up to full speed...
Compared to the morning drive, we had a much easier run back to Newenden, where I got off after 9 interesting hours, with a new perspective on driving, traffic and the London roads network!
A day in a grab lorry (2)
Oxford Street looks different from the cab!
We continued down to Clapham Common, to the specific point indicated by our customer, Lambeth Council. There was nobody there, but a quick phone call to our contact promised he would be there in 15 mins. So it was time to grab some lunch from the nearby burger van. But of course, as soon as we had our food, the chap turned up, in a JCB. He then proceeded to tell us that we were in the wrong place and we should follow him to another place, at the south end of the Common. It remains a mystery to this day why we couldn't have been directed there in the first place...
But we got the fourteen bags of compost off and could continue empty (or "light" as we say at sea) down to Esher, to load some woodland mulch.
A day in a grab lorry (1)
Last week, I went for a trip on an eight-wheeler grab lorry, the venerable Volvo FM GK12 SJX. As I haven't quite managed to get round to getting an HGV licence yet, it was skillfully and safely driven by John.
We first went to Sevenoaks to load seven bags of rootzone and 14 bags of compost. Then a quick look at the traffic to work out the best route to our first discharging point - Lords Cricket Ground, near Regent's Park. Dartford and Blackwall tunnels were absolutely chocka, and the A2 looked equally grim. So we decided to go round the M25 and come in from the West via the M40/A40. It did take a while...
Eventually, we found Gate 6, which was very firmly closed. After some discussion with Security and the staff of our customer, Frosts Landscapes, the bolt was pulled and we could reverse in. This involved a nice S-bend with less than a foot on either side of the lorry... I was rather glad not to have to do that one. But then, I could be let loose with my camera - only, we were at the back of the stands at Lords and there was no chance of getting any iconic views. I did get a lot of photos though and will post them somewhere when my blogging skills improve. The seven bags of rootzone were unloaded and then we set off down Edgware Road and Park Lane to our next goal.