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BEDFORDS TRANSPORT
Aiming to be the UK’s most professional operator
The right side of Bedfords
West Yorkshire haulier Bedfords Transport has a 96% MoT pass rate. CM spoke to fleet engineer Steve Hollingsworth about his plans to hit 100% and become one of the most professional operators on the road
Words: Christopher Walton / Images: Tom Cunningham Anyone who has ever worked as a leet engineer will know the job isn’t simple, but Steve Hollingsworth’s approach to the job is to break it down to its core parts, ensuring that West Yorkshire’s Bedfords Transport has some of the highest standards of operation on the UK’s roads.
“My responsibilities are for the day-to-day running of our vehicle leet – ensuring we get maximum mpg out of our vehicle leet – as well as safety and keeping up to date with legislation,” he says when asked to explain the nature of his job.
“I am liaising with the trafic ofice on a day-to-day basis, asking for vehicles for servicing, speaking to our parts suppliers and liaising with our maintenance contractors at [Volvo dealership] Crossroads [Truck and Bus] and [Iveco dealer] Northern Commercials.” The smooth running of Bedfords’ leet is all about systems and understanding how those systems apply to everyday activities. For example, Bedfords services all its trailer leet in-house, but one in 10 trailers is sent to Crossroads for inspection. Then Bedfords inspects the trailer again, so Crossroads is essentially auditing the inspection work Bedfords is doing, and vice-versa.
“This makes sure all our vehicles are safe, and I can go to bed at night knowing everything is 100%,” he insists.
Bedfords runs 135 trailers: three-quarters are ixed double-deck trailers and the remaining quarter are single decks. The vehicle leet of 89 is a 50/50 split between Iveco and Volvo.
Not all these vehicles are on the road at any one time: Bedfords operates a split-shift system, with three different driver rotas. Routine maintenance on vehicles is planned around the drivers’ working hours. The trailers are on a 12-week service cycle between inspections.
Daily full yard sweep
It is all part of a smooth system that Hollingsworth runs with a typical Yorkshire no-nonsense approach. The key is communication between the workshop and the trafic ofice. “First thing in the morning, one of my itters does a full yard sweep to see what we have got in. Together we go through the trailer list of what we have and what is due for service and what VORs need ticking off and putting on our database. I will notify trafic of what particular vehicles and trailers are not on the road today and we carry on the necessary repairs as and when.
“On a Wednesday morning I email trafic what is due a service for the following week. They know seven days in advance what is due for service, so they can plan next week’s runs and where the trailers are so they can make them available for services and MoTs.
“If you have got that relationship and teamwork it works. And that is what we have got here at Bedfords: a good team. As long as you communicate it just gels in.” But how much of a stamp has Hollingsworth put on the operation of Bedfords’ leet in his six years with the irm? He might be in charge of a six-strong team; a foreman, three vehicle technicians and a body technician, as well as his administration assistant responsible for tachographs and vehicle defect reports, but he remains humble about his achievements, saying that while he believes he has developed plenty of new procedures for the company, there were a lot in place before he started.
Excellent MoT pass rate
What he is proud of is Bedfords’ excellent MoT pass rate, which stands at 96% this year. “The failures we had were a few with their number plate light bulbs out. The sad thing about it was they left [our yard] working, but in the space of 500 yards... It’s annoying because we have such a good relationship with VOSA that you think they would say ‘just change it’. If it is a wider fault then fair comment, but they are there to do a job.
“My aim is 100% and we were very close this year,” he insists.
This proves Hollingsworth’s attention to detail. In aiming for 100% MoT pass rates before a vehicle leaves a workshop, the workshop foreman gives a full light check, then checks them again before he gets onto the testing lane.
“We want to be one of the best operators out there,” Hollingsworth insists. His tenacity as a leet engineer will remain an essential cog in the wheel when it comes to keeping Bedfords one of the most professional operators on the road. ■
KEEPING VOSA HAPPY
Hollingsworth believes VOSA is more approachable than it has ever been, and willing to offer advice to help operators meet the highest of compliance standards.
“VOSA isn’t the enemy,” he says. “It’s there to do its job. It’s just policing us to make sure we are doing our job. In all the years I have been in this game I have had a good relationship with VOSA. I speak to them regularly and I like to have that working relationship with them. If they want to have a fleet inspection they are welcome – we have nothing to hide.” Hollingsworth’s experience was shaped when he worked for a previous employer and found himself at a public inquiry before TC Tom McCartney – “after the outcome I found them very good”. Now Bedfords is his home, where he has been able to put his own personal touches into the running of the firm.
“I think the directors think I am doing a good job and they don’t put me under any pressure, they just leave me to run it. They see our MoT pass rates and that we are doing it to budget, so they must think I am doing a good job, otherwise I would get called into the office to be told I was doing something wrong!”