Here at Gauntlet, our haulage insurance specialists have some on-point safety advice ahead of winter 2018, to try to keep more HGV drivers and their loads safe should another ‘Beast from the East arrive’.

Hauliers facing linguistic issues in explaining fire safety procedures to workers from Eastern Europe and other parts of the EU, can take advantage of a new e-learning option that makes ‘Fire Safety in Industry’ training available in Polish, Slovakian, Czech, Romanian, Latvian and Portuguese, as well as in English.

Dynamic haulage, removals and commercial insurance broker and risk manager, Gauntlet Group, has demonstrated its unswerving commitment to the upholding of professional standards within the insurance industry, by earning Chartered Insurance Broker status from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).

Haulage and courier fleet managers have the opportunity to benefit from a holistic analysis of their HGV or van fleet’s claims history and risk management strategies and assessments, thanks to a new service launched by Gauntlet Group, specialists in haulage insurance and risk management.

Haulage operators and HGV drivers who don’t know their OSA from their OSAS should be experiencing sleepless nights. Failure to recognise the impact of the extra ‘S’ could leave a firm or individual in very hot water, facing legal action and potentially also bearing the cost of an insurance claim themselves, rather than receiving a payout from their insurer.

The British haulage industry, and its image in the eyes of the British public, both appear to be suffering due to a lack of joined-up thinking in the corridors of infrastructure planners. Only last week, a headline in the Folkestone Herald (March 5 2015) read ‘Will Clamping Trial Clear Up HGV Parking Blight?’ The ‘blight’ in question relates to lorry drivers using lanes and streets to park up overnight. 15,000 lorries use the ports in this area. Plans are mooted to help resolve the issue – possibly, but not probably, creating 60 parking HGV parking spaces at Stop 24 on the M20.

The UK logistics industry is heading at breakneck speed towards a gaping hole in the road ahead – a well-documented HGV driver shortage that could well and truly put the brakes on Britain’s economic recovery. Having survived Christmas 2014 and the predictions of empty shelves, as logistics companies struggled to keep up with consumer demand, the haulage industry’s New Year’s resolution should be to solve the big headache that is HGV driver recruitment.