The Driving Force Behind CSG’s Vehicle Fleet

27 September 2017 by CSG

CSG operates one of the industry’s largest vehicle fleets. They range from small vans to huge liquid-carrying tankers and articulated leviathans carrying up to 25 tonnes of waste materials destined for treatment, recovery or, as a last resort, disposal.

It goes without saying that the vehicles have to be carefully specified and carefully examined and maintained to ensure they always comply with a whole raft of stringent transport, environmental and health & safety regulations.

And meeting high standards of performance and expertise also applies to CSG drivers who constantly criss-cross the country picking up waste, much of it hazardous, and delivering it back to the company’s depots for treatment.

Ensuring CSG’s drivers are always the best they can be is the job of the company’s team of Service and Performance Auditors (SPA)  – or Driver-Training Auditors as they’re more commonly known.

CSG’s two-man team of driver trainers, Darren Bennett and Les Denham, who are both qualified driving instructors, have been with the company for 12 years.

They have now been joined by a third SPA – 47-year-old Chris Hanrahan, an HGV 1 & 2 qualified driver who has worked with CSG for some years and underwent a tough process of training and examination to gain the promotion.

With the whole country to cover, the team is responsible for a formidable range of duties, including in-house training and assessment of new drivers and those returning to work after sick leave, auditing the company’s work at customers ’sites, and monitoring driver and vehicle health & safety procedures at CSG facilities. 

Training is a key part of the team’s work.  As well as coaching drivers up to HGV Class 1 (up to 44 tonne vehicles) and Class 2 (up to 32 tonnes), the driver-trainers design courses and conduct training sessions to ensure constant compliance with Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) regulations.

It’s now a legal requirement for all HGV drivers to complete 35 hours of CPC training every five years.

CSG is an approved CPC Centre supplying  training courses to both the company’s own drivers and offering them to other companies who want to take advantage of the years of professional HGV experience provided by the team. 

A typical five-module training course covers the application of regulations, defensive and fuel efficient driving, customer care, emergency first aid and the legal obligations faced by professional drivers.

Said Darren Bennett:  “Because we’ve so many years of professional HGV experience behind us, the team is able to offer training that’s truly by drivers, for drivers.  Training is conducted by enthusiastic and highly qualified CSG staff who regularly utilise the company’s own modern fleet.”

CSG offers all HGV drivers specialist CPC training at multiple CSG locations, as well as on-site training at the premises of other organisations. Each seven-hour course starts from £75 + VAT per driver. Contact: 0800 011 6600 or email CPC@csg.co.uk to book.