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Accident-free artic
Page 16
Page 17
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The Royal Mail's Safety Concept Artic is meant to be the ultimate accident-free zone, whether out on the road or at the depot. What can be learnt from it?
Words / Images: Brian Weatherley IS IT RIGHT to call Royal Mail's Safety Concept Artie (SEA) the safest truck on the UK's roads? Network operations director Phil Murphy (above) is happy for you to disagree.
He says: "We don't mind if somebody says: `No it isn't: In fact, we'd be pleased if they did. What we're trying to do is provoke some debate on road safety in the industry."
The SCA will certainly do that. For example, how much safety equipment should you put on a truck before it becomes self-defeating... or ignored altogether? And what price are you prepared to pay for safety?
The cost of all the SCA's additional safety kit — a cool 30% on top of the price tag of an equivalent 'regular' Royal Mail artic — will naturally prompt some raised eyebrows.
Over the next 12 months, the Royal Mail will put its mobile accident prevention unit into six of its UK depots.
It's doing this to get management and driver feedback on thc usefulness of the 44 extra safety items specified on the DAF CF85 tractor and Cartwright double-deck trailer beyond its 11 legallymandated safety gear, including ABS, front, rear and side under-run, speed limiter and spray suppression.
Before deciding what equipment would offer the most benefit, Royal Mail first looked into its Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) information, particularly its road traffic accident and personal injury data. This showed that 17% were falls from a vehicle; 15% involved injuries using shutter doors; 12% were slips and trips; and 7% were coupling or uncoupling incidents. Armed with this information, it set its suppliers to work in addressing those specific danger zones.
To improve rear access to the trailer, Cartwright added slide-out steps with timed lighting and an enlarged top step/ platform that's easy to locate when climbing out. It also fitted a groundlevel slide-out suzie coupling system.
Although similar to the old MAVIS design of the late 90s, this latest version boasts a host of improvements, including the fact that it pulls out well beyond the trailer bulkhead, so the driver doesn't have to stretch to use it.
Cutting accidents More importantly, the suzie couplings are mounted vertically, rather than horizontally, on the slide-out rail, so the driver attaches an airline by pushing it upwards, thus gaining greater leverage and also avoiding a blast of air in the face. The one feature that definitely generated strong feedback from the Royal Mail driver we spoke to at the launch was the large plastic collars fitted to the air lines, which provided a sure grip.
Other RIDDOR concerns involved drivers trapping their fingers or hands when closing the rear roller shutter. The Cartwright double-decker's powered rear shutter boasts a built-in sensor that scans the lower part of the door aperture. Should it detect a hand or foot that could be trapped, it stops the shutter descending further.
Another health and safety/injury prevention item fitted to the trailer is powered landing legs (with a manual override if the power fails). And in a bid to reduce depot accidents when backing up, the trailer is also fitted with a reversing camera and parking distance sensors, as well as what's described as 'ramp approach braking', which automatically stops the artic when it is within a metre of an object — whether that object is a loading bay, stationary obstacle or a pedestrian. Only if it is safe to do so can the driver slowly reverse the remaining distance.
As part of its accident management set-up, Murphy says the Royal Mail deliberately includes all traffic incidents in its reporting data — regardless of whether they take place on the road or in its own depots.
"We've got good reporting of clips and bumps in the yard," he says. "Out of all the accidents on the road, two-thirds were not our drivers' faults. They are professionals. We want them to be aware of situations where accidents may occur." To help with this, the DAF CF85 has been fitted with a downward-facing camera that is pointed towards the classic nearside blindspot. Plus, there's also a pedestrian proximity warning device by the nearside step well.
Cost-effective solutions
With more than 33,000 vehicles across the Royal Mail fleet, including 630 rig,ids, 1,250 tractors, 1,900 trailers and 350 double-deckers, Murphy reveals: "A lot of the problems we face as we cover 122 million miles a year are industry-wide issues such as bridge bashing, split or mis-coupling, roll-aways or RTAs."
To help the SCA driver avoid those incidents, the artic is also equipped with truck-based sat-nav,fifth-wheel coupling sensors, on-board weighing and tyre pressure monitoring.
Last, but not least. the DAF CF85 tractor has a powered roof-deflector (developed from Cartwright's Cheetah system), which can be raised or lowered from the cab, depending on the height of trailer being pulled. The driver also has a digital in-cab vehicle height readout, which works in conjunction with an automatic height sensor.
However, two of the most effective items on this artic are also the most cost-effective. To remind drivers they are coupling up to a 'tall' trailer, the 16ft 2in double-decker's front bulk head is painted white. And heightmarking decals located on the front corners of the trailer are the wrong way around, so the driver views them the right way around in his mirrors — and is reminded of its extra height.
• CM will be keeping a dose eye on the Royal Mail SCA over the next 12 months.
—r www.raadtransport.comfcm