Record numbers of FORS members earn gold and silver accreditation

The Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) is celebrating reaching record numbers of gold- and silver-accredited members.

As of August 19, 312 members had achieved gold status, with 1,650 holding silver.

These are the highest levels of accreditation available to members, requiring operators to meet more exacting standards and hold themselves to a higher level of accountability than at bronze level.

John Hix, FORS director, said: “We are delighted to see our membership levels continuing to rise at silver and gold level.

“Our data and member feedback consistently demonstrate the benefits of FORS and its growing importance in the tendering process.”

The FORS 2019 Performance Survey found, for bronze operators, an average 26% of contracts require FORS.

For silver and gold operators, however, the percentages rise to 38% and 51% respectively.

Overall, 38% of FORS members reported winning work over competitors as a direct benefit of the accreditation scheme.

FORS is a voluntary accreditation scheme established in 2008 and it open to UK and non-UK fleet operators, and to the organisations that award contracts to those operators.

It currently has more than 4,850 members who work through the progressive levels of the scheme and adhere to the FORS Standard, which sets out the requirements operators must meet if they wish to become FORS accredited.

The document is updated every two years to ensure it keeps abreast of industry trends and upcoming legislative changes.

The next iteration of the FORS standard, version 6, is due to be published in October and implemented in July 2022, having been postponed by one year to minimise disruption to FORS members in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In May, FORS launched a van training update to its Van Smart eLearning module to help upskill light commercial vehicle drivers.