38 members of staff in total have participated in the course. Those sitting the test include Roman’s delivery vehicle drivers and also Roman’s team of Technical Sales Engineers. All participants so far have passed, with some achieving ‘excellent’.
As the named suggests, the SAFED course teaches participants how to become safer and more fuel efficient drivers. The course, administered by Drive Tech, involves a day of training including classroom theory work and road work; it is then concluded with a test. The course is a Department of Transport intuitive.
The training will benefit Roman as it can save a van driving an average of 20,000 miles a year; up to £500 worth of diesel per year, over a ¼ tonne reduction in carbon emissions, fuel consumption by around 10% per vehicle, fewer accidents resulting in lower insurance premiums, lower running costs, reduced maintenance requirements and a higher re-sale value.
The Driver also benefits from the course as driving will be less stressful, there is less chance of them being involved in a collision and the skills they learn can be used when driving their own private vehicles.
Roman’s Logistics Director Mike Spink comments; “When Roman heard about the SAFED training we were keen to get our drivers on the course. It would be beneficial to us as it would save money on fuel as well as decreasing the likelihood of road accidents. It is also beneficial to the environment as carbon emissions given off by vehicles can be cut by ¼ tonne per vehicle, per year; this is an area which all businesses should be focussing some attention on. Although some of our drivers were unenthusiastic initially, following the training course everybody came back feeling positive about the training and we all feel it was extremely beneficial. We are already beginning to see evidence of savings in fuel consumption.”