Royal Mail rewarded for truck safety initiative

Every year, in collaboration with Volvo Trucks, EuroTra (European Transport Training Association) selects the company that has made the greatest efforts to increase traffic safety and to improve the driver’s working environment. It was announced today that the winner of the EuroTra Safety and Innovation Award 2009 is Royal Mail Network - the British national postal service.

Royal Mail Network launched efforts to actively reduce the number of serious accidents among its drivers and highlight the need for better overall safety in the transport sector. A study showed that over half of all accidents leading to injury occur when people move around the vehicle or manoeuvre the load. The efforts resulted in a concept truck with no less than 55 safety features, including a lighting system, sensors and cameras around both the truck and trailer. The concept truck will be used for a year in Royal Mail Network's daily operations for testing and evaluation.

The EuroTra judges awarded Royal Mail the first prize for, amongst other things, highlighting the need for safer working procedures and showing concrete ways of making the drivers’ safety environment safer as well as increasing safety for all other road users.

“The driver is at the centre of all our safety efforts. Besides building safe trucks that make the driver’s work easier, we want to take action at all levels to help improve the driver’s work environment,” says Carl Johan Almqvist, Volvo Trucks’ Traffic and Product Safety Director. “EuroTra makes an important contribution by highlighting and rewarding safety innovations, and we are eager to support these efforts.”