ABE Ledbury secures Earned Recognition status

ABE Ledbury has been accredited on the DVSA’s Earned Recognition scheme.

Gaining the accreditation has been a couple of years in the making for the business, which employs 75 people and has a fleet of 50 vehicles and 60 trailers, the company said.

ABE said it has made investment in updating systems and technology to ensure it met the standards demanded by the DVSA – which includes safety inspection records, MOT logs and measuring driver activity.

Jeff Pryce, ABE’s transport compliance manager, said: “Whilst we already operated to a high level, we had to take it up a gear to gain the accreditation. A lot of work went into the getting this earned recognition, but it’s worth it.

“We have pretty much moved everything from paper to digital, which makes it so much easier and robust when we have our audits.

“By getting this accreditation, you are really putting your head above the parapet and making the business very transparent, but we knew that we already performed to a very high standard, so had nothing to worry about.”

ABE implemented a truck maintenance system – Truck File – which utilises tablets to record and store information which was previously kept on paper and has introduced a new driver management tool, Smart Analysis to ensure compliance with drivers’ hours, working time legislation and tachograph regulations.

An investment was also made to update its new telematics system with CCTV cameras to help build reportable data instead of relying on paperwork.

Pryce said: “I felt it was incredibly important to ensure the business had two years of digital, robust data that could be used to evidence the earned recognition status.

“The operators risk appliance form is a scoring system, which works very much like a traffic light system, and we have been a green operator for quite some time now.”

Pryce said he also put himself and two other members of the team through an Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) course to ensure that the business was up to date with the DVSA’s policies.

The online modular course enabled the business to create an anti-terrorism policy and deliver toolbox talks to drivers and members of the transport team.

Clive Brooks, managing director at ABE (Ledbury), said: “There is a lot involved in gaining the earned recognition status, including demonstrating high levels of compliance with the latest legislation.

“It covers everything from vehicle maintenance logs, vehicle safety, driver checks as well as ensuring the site is fit for purpose.

“The level of detail we have to submit every four weeks is high, but it is a great way to prove our high standards are consistent.

“The DVSA’s scheme is in place to encourage operators to be the best of the best and that is exactly what Jeff and the team have been able to prove.”