High accident rates, high stress levels and stereotyped images have all helped to give the ‘white van man’ a bad press over recent years. But the new Government-funded initiative SAFED for Vans (Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving) will provide van drivers with advanced driving skills to address these issues, whilst aiming to help the environment and save millions of pounds in fuel costs at the same time.
Launched in January 2006, by the then Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, SAFED for Vans is a £2.5m programme, funded by the Department for Transport. The programme delivers to drivers exactly what it says – safe and fuel-efficient driving techniques. The one-day training course involves a mix of classroom and on the road tuition. It gives drivers the skills to spot potential accidents, save fuel and reduce stress levels.
In short, the course aims to deliver safer, cleaner and cheaper driving.
The idea behind SAFED for Vans comes from the heavy goods vehicle industry, where the highly successful scheme led to huge savings in fuel costs and reduced the risk of accidents, including 13,941,941 litres of fuel saved, equivalent to a cost saving of £10,456,455.
SAFED for Vans is offering the course to 7,500 drivers throughout England, delivered by a network of 300 trainers.
The programme has the potential to make a huge impact on the van driving industry – whether that’s people who drive a van as part of their job, or whether driving a van is their job. According to the latest figures, vans account for some 62.5 billion kilometres of distance travelled and 90% of this was in connection with collection and delivery of goods, travel between homes and workplace or journeys between jobs.
According to the Department for Transport’s 2004 figures, there were 6,897 Light Commercial Vehicles road traffic accidents, including 765 killed or seriously injured. Coupled with the fact that the total fuel used by the van sector is around 5.5 billion litres (taking an average mpg figure of 32 mpg), at 98.9p per litre, this equates to some £5.5 billion in fuel costs to the industry each year and 4.6 million tonnes of carbon released into the environment.
Taking these figures into consideration, experts from SAFED for Vans believe the impact of the programme will be far-reaching.
As well as saving money for the companies involved, the training is designed to improve the calibre and expertise of individual van drivers. Given that SAFED for Vans is currently available free of charge for most companies, the programme offers businesses who are keen to train their staff, but are stretched for time and financial resources, a unique training and development opportunity. Cynics of the programme who are concerned that safe and fuel driving techniques will cost them in operational terms might also be surprised to learn that SAFED is proven not to impact on journey times.
Since its launch, SAFED for Vans has already provided some impressive results, demonstrating that a typical driver benefits from:
- 14 % fuel consumption reduction
- 56 % reduction in driver faults
- 34% reduction of the number of gear changes
- 1.5% reduction of journey time.
- up to £500 fuel savings per vehicle, depending on mileage.
Last month SAFED celebrated a major milestone in the programme – 1500 of the 7,500 drivers have so far been trained.
Claire Shrewsbury, SAFED Programme Manager comments,
‘We are absolutely delighted. The early stages of the programme involved putting in place our network of 300 trainers across England, so to reach 1500 drivers trained at this stage is a huge achievement for the programme.’
"SAFED’s network of trainers is strong, and we are confident that we will reach our target of 7,500 van drivers by March 2007. This a fantastic scheme, which offers enormous benefits to individual drivers, companies and the industry."
But, as Shrewsbury is keen to point out – funding for the programme only lasts until March 07, so fleet managers and van drivers interested in receiving their training should get in touch soon, by calling the helpline on 0870 190 8440, www.safed.org.uk or email vans@safed.org.uk