1 name in 1988. It now turns over £1.5m a
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year specialising in dangerous goods tanker operations. Clients include Shell UK Downstream and Phillips Petroleum Products; it also handles spot-hire tanker work but container haulage now accounts for only a small proportion of the company's activity In August it became one of the few UK operators to he registered to NEN2726.
-We became registered with ISO 9002 in 1990," says Lamer. "We also realised that because the oil companies were taking it very seriously it might eliminate some of the competitors from the field. However, although it encourages good management practice, ISO 9002 is no more relevant to road haulage than it is to the corner shop. NEN 2726, on the other hand, is a quality system specifically for dangerous goods carriers."
Registration
The NEN standard should be seen as an additional chapter to ISO 9002 because NEN2726 cannot stand alone. However, it is possible that an EU derivative could. In the meantime, Lamer estimates that companies intent on satisfying the current NEN registration requirements will have to dedicate another 25-30, of the effort and cost that went into ISO registration.
The NEN standard hinges on eight sections which include the formalisation of safety procedures (Lamer feels these are tougher than the current UK standard); the establishment of procedural disciplines, including medicals, for selection and recruitment of drivers; and statements about driver training (NEN specifies the ADR certificate). It also insists that a controller of dangerous goods vehicles must be trained to meet the same ADR requirements; this is not a UK requirement.
Lamer reports that the company has found that NEN helps focus management on maintenance procedures which may be more appropriate to dangerous goods vehicles. For
example, there are specific requirements concerning tank cleaning procedures, hose testing and inspections. However, no quality standard is perfect. and Lamer has identified some problems with the subjectivity of some NEN requirements: "NEN says you must provide a driver with "sufficient" first aid equipment, and it includes a reference that companies must have "sufficient" insurance for public liability. I don't like that. I'm all for introducing the largest degree of objectivity into any form of legislation."
Nonetheless, he feels that NEN has certain advantages over the current ADR requirements; he feels that some of these are too objective: "NEN says you must document what equipment is being issued and that it must work," he says. "ADR says you must carry wheel chocks, a tool kit and two amber lights." He is not alone in believing this requirement is a little out of date.
So while Suckling tends to welcome improvements in standards and the harmonisation of ADR throughout the EU. Lamer speaks for many when he hopes common sense will prevail: "Where there are differences in equipment specification it is essential that we get confirmation that there will be a transitional relief period for vehicles which are currently being used. Of all the proposals in the framework directive, this is the one causing the most concern. There are operators delaying decisions about vehicle replacements until this point is clarified." Reference temperatures currently contained within the framework directive are of particular concern: "That 50°C temperature might be OK in southern Europe," says Suckling, "but in the UK it is inappropriate."
As a member of the Freight Transport Association's regional committee, he has been lending his support to the association's lobby. John Hix, FTA manager of hazardous cargo services, says the association is confident that, in this case at least, common sense will prevail and fears about the specification of vehicles in use will be eased.
James Hookham, ETA controller of environmental services, expects a similar result on reference temperatures. Otherwise, he says: "In the UK, payloads could be 2-3 tonnes lighter if operators are told to allow for potential temperatures which
clearly might arise in the toe of Italy, but are never likely to be experienced up in Scunthorpe. The Scandinavians are likely to be even more concerned about the situation."
A lobby against existing ADR limits on tank filling will be supported by UK government research. This has found no link with rollover accidents below the 80% ADR limit, which is believed to be an arbitrary figure.
There seems little to indicate that dangerous goods hauliers are doomed to wrestling continuously with imposed or selfinduced changes in the rules. In any case, the JW Suckling experience indicates that such restrictions can have a positive aspect.
Perhaps this is just as well. Because current ADR requirements consider the weight of the goods on the vehicle rather than the size of the package or container. This means that many operators, such as gas bottle carriers and some parcels carriers, who occasionally carry listed goods, could be drawn in under the ADR harmonisation process.
Unless successfully challenged, this could cause some interesting problems in terms of training a lot of drivers, with a requirement to register for an appropriate quality system. E by Steve McQueen