UKROed webinar –

https://www.ukroed.org.uk/2022webinar3/

DFBB Podcast –

https://dfbb.podbean.com/e/ean-lewin-lesley-obrien/

At the prestigious annual Motor Transport Awards on 7 September 2022 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane in London, Freightlink Europe MD Lesley O’Brien OBE was elected to the Wall of Fame in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the British road freight transport industry.  Lesley said, ‘I feel humbled and absolutely delighted to be deemed worthy of such recognition from my industry peers.  As a woman working in a predominantly male culture and working in a family business it is really important to me to dare to speak out and to be a voice for the minority, but yet who play a vital role in the road transport industry.  Lesley entered the industry as a PA, intended to be a stop gap from her summer job in Spain, but due to her love of languages was enticed into the world of transport resulting in a career path from PA to UK MD of one of then Europe’s largest transport operators, Transport Giraud.  In 2008 she joined husband Kevin in their family business, Freightlink Europe, today offering distribution throughout the UK with its growing fleet of 38 vehicles and one of the first UK operators to gain the accolade of DVSA Founder Member Earned Recognition Operator. Lesley served 9 years on the Board of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and in 2020 was awarded the OBE for services to diversity and inclusion in transport.  Lesley said, ‘despite perception, transport can and does provide an exciting career opportunity for women, offering a variety of rolls and career prospects, as can be evidenced by the career path of a once shy Yorkshire girl being recognised by the great and good of our fabulous industry.  With age comes wisdom and over time comes change.  I am delighted to see more amazing women succeeding in our industry.

Last year Lesley spoke to a group of women who had enrolled on the Manpower Women in Driving Development pathway.   This year again, we were delighted to help when asked to create a quick video clip.

Manpower video

The Microlise Conference returned after a 3 year break due to COVID and was hosted by Spencer Kelly, presenter of BBC3’s flagship technology programme Click.  Freightlink Europe Director, Lesley O’Brien, was delighted to be invited to be on the Expert Panel, where the thorny subject of agency drivers was raised.

There was a perceived clash between Tesco Transport Director Matt Rhind and Freightlink Europe Director Lesley O’Brien.  Matt Rhind quite rightly stated that agency drivers had been a godsend during the pandemic.  Indeed we at Freightlink Europe agree that agency drivers are vital to our industry to cover the ebbs and flow of business needs, holidays, periods of sickness and unforeseen events.  The concern is not directed at the drivers, but rather Agencies, many of which fail to have knowledge of demands of the highly regulated transport industry.  This can result in inadequate recruitment and assessment processes, failing both drivers and companies.

At a recent meeting with a local Agency, when questioned, the Agency was unable to answer basic questions with regard to drivers’ hours and load security.  This being the case, how can they recruit, assess, monitor and, where necessary, train.

Yes, vehicle operators have an obligation to ensure their drivers are competent and trained, but when engaging with a third party provider, deemed to offer the specific service, surely we should be able to rely on an assessment and understanding of the basics.

Unlike both the Company and the driver, when things go wrong, the Agency livelihood is not at stake, whereas drivers risk losing their vocational licence and companies can have their Operator’s licence revoked, suspended or curtailed. Where is the accountability?

Freightlink Europe totally agrees that agency drivers should and must enjoy the same welfare facilities and benefits as their counterpart employees.  However, Agency recruitment companies have their part to play and must have accountability.  Regretfully not all vehicle operators have the same buying power to make demands on Agencies as Tesco.  Neither are their sufficient Agencies of repute to fill the gap in the market.

Arch Fleet

In addition to contributing to the Microlise Expert Panel, Lesley O’Brien supported the Arch Fleet stand, promoting 24/7 legal roadside criminal protection for drivers.

Freightlink Europe subscribes to Arch Fleet to provide legal 24/7 criminal legal protection for its drivers at roadside.   A ‘blue light’ incident at roadside is the only time that police do not advise of a person’s right to have legal representation.  Arch Fleet provides this representation at roadside.  Freightlink Europe drivers are made aware of their rights.  They are not only given a 24/7 emergency number to ring, but a letter to provide to police, advising that they are invoking their right to be represented, with a number to call for lawyer attendance.  This will ensure that anything drivers say at roadside has the benefit of being legally privileged, protecting and assisting our drivers when they are possibly at their most vulnerable.

Attending the Arch Fleet stand, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, joked that this could equally apply to drivers of horse boxes!

Lesley commented, ‘I used to think that FNOL provided this service and was shocked to learn not only about legal privilege at roadside, but that FNOL (First Notification of Loss) reporting is only really focused on the recovery of vehicles and not driver assistance.  For this reason, I fully support Charlotte  Le Maire in promoting Arch Fleet for the protection of drivers at roadside’

The industry united to play tribute to HGV driver heroes at the Microlise Driver Awards at the Coventry Building Society Arena – an opportunity for the industry to shine.

Congratulations to Marek Mackiewicz for receiving the Driver of the Year Award.

As fuel prices continued to escalate, on 17th May 2022 Freightlink Europe Director, Lesley O’Brien OBE joined Paul Abbott, Group Director of Knight’s of Old, the RHA and Logistics UK to discuss the issue for our industry at an APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) headed by Greg Smith, MP for Buckingham.

Addressing the APPG, Lesley informed the MP that whilst Freightlink Europe had been monitoring fuel costs for many years and had implemented a fuel surcharge escalator for many years, they had never seen such a massive increase,  representing 43% since March 2021*.  If the cost of fuel remained unchanged this would mean an additional £18.5k per articulated vehicle per year and over £500k for the fleet.

Greg Smith MP acknowledged that the 5p cut in duty had probably not even been noticed and asked what duty cut would make an impact.  It would be hard to anticipate the 45p essential user rebate required in order to reset the status quo.

Lesley said’ fuel is just one of the ever increasing costs with which our industry is faced, including salaries, vehicle and maintenance costs, insurance and national insurance.  Of course all of these costs need to be included in the cost of transport and will impact on the cost of living and inflation.  Hopefully we got across to the minister that by helping the transport industry, by default we help the economy as a whole.’

*Since writing this fuel has increased by 50% year on year.

See Lesley speaking with Dan Walker on Channel 5.

Dan Walker interview

We love to help in our local community.  This month we assisted in transporting goods to the Christian Aid shop in Haworth.

When Rita of  Sonya’s Smile gift shop in Haworth donated her shop for Christian Aid week, Freightlink Europe was happy to assist in transporting goods donated by local residents .  The shop was manned by volunteers and raised £2518 for Christian aid. Well done and thanks to our drivers Matty and Josh.

This month we supported Bradford Lord Mayor’s Charity Ball held at the Bradford Hotel, Bradford.  We danced our socks off.  Who would have thought that we could do the Bhangra. This was a real multicultural event – no wonder Bradford was subsequently awarded City of Culture for 2025.

Congratulations to our van driver Matty for passing his class C driving test.  He had to wait a while for a test slot, but the wait was worthwhile.

We were pleased to be invited by the Yorkshire Asian Business Association (YABA) to join them in a celebration of Eid at the Cedar Court Hotel Leeds/Bradford.  YABA seeks to connect faiths, families and communities.

Award Winning insolvency and litigation partner Asma Iqbal from Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors gave an explanation of what Ramadan and Eid means to Muslims and how charity plays a major part.

She explained how charity was at the heart of a Muslim’s faith and although Eid was a celebration of the end of fasting, many were in food poverty most days.

As delays on the M62 around junction 27 continue to cause disruption, Lesley was invited to speak to Richard Stead of BBC Radio Leeds.

Lesley said, ‘Welcome to the world of transport.  Its not just the M62 that causes disruption for HGV drivers and route planners.  Roadworks and accidents on the road throughout the UK are the daily norm.  Whilst commuters may be able to start earlier, this isn’t always an option or solution for HGV drivers who are regulated by drivers’ hours.  Drivers and planners need to consider not only drivers’ hours regulations, but customer requirements, delays caused by roadworks and weather, together with places where a driver may safely park and have access to facilities, of which there is a serious lack.’

Several years ago a group of women from the world of transport gathered to form She’s RHA.  Whilst She’s RHA is no longer,  they have remained  firm friends and allies.  In April they reunited for a long overdue get together.

Said Lesley ‘It was such a delight to meet up again with former RHA Regional Manager and Auditor Edna Gill and fellow women from the world of transport Brenda Ward from Ward Bros, Lyndsey Bowler from TW Bowler Ltd and Sally and Margaret Hall from R Bunton Ltd.  Despite us all being a little older, and wiser, not much has changed.   We continue to #talk transport…drink prosecco and eat cake!’

Escaping the world of transport for an hour, we were delighted for an opportunity to reach out to the local community and to accept an invite from the Women Centre charity, based in the centre of Halifax.  The Women Centre is a not for profit charity and offers a lifeline of support to those women and their children living in fear – abused, refugees, suffering mental health problems and those often with nowhere else to turn.

Freightlink Europe is happy to continue to support this worthwhile charity.  Whilst working in a predominantly male environment, of course they all have mothers, sisters, aunties, nieces and female friends.  We never know what goes on behind closed doors, and when these women may need help.

We are proud to  that following our recent audit, thanks to our amazing team both in the office and on the road Freightlink Europe has maintained its Earned Recognition status.

Freightlink Europe was one of the first road hauliers to step forward and join the DVSA Earned Recognition pilot scheme back in 2017.  We therefore enjoy Founder Member status.  A testament to our fabulous team.

Our business partnerships are vital to ensure the continuance of excellent customer service.  We aim to surround ourselves with suppliers who are experts in their field and can enhance our performance and our customers’ experience.  Driver recruitment agencies play a vital role.  There will always be drivers who are sick, on holiday or need to take unforeseen leave.   During the pandemic agencies have proved an invaluable support.  Yet quality of agency drivers is of ongoing concern.  So much so that we have been vocal in stating that transport agencies should be regulated and liable/responsible in the same way as fleet operators. Many operators, understandably, chose to park up their fleet, rather than to use an agency driver.  One of the questions asked by insurers is, what percentage of the fleet is comprised of agency drivers?

This month we met with Sadie Weston of Driver Recruitment Software.   Sadie has vast experience in driver recruitment, has a focus on safety and compliance and was able to give an insight into issues facing agencies.

In addition to our Agency Agreement, we have compiled an Agency Audit to enable us to assess the quality of our agencies.   Most important is, what qualifications/knowledge does the agency possess with regard to the role of a driver and the transport industry – drivers’ hours, tachograph legislation, walk round checks, avoidance of bridge strikes, training?  If the recruitment agency does not have in depth knowledge in these areas, how can they recruit and assess drivers and offer ongoing driver management support?

Yes, the cost for agency drivers may have to increase.  Costs however must be transparent, detailing driver pay, national insurance, pensions, drivers negligence insurance, profit margin….  However, if the result is more safe and compliant drivers, fewer road traffic incidents, damage to vehicles and infringements could this actually result in a saving?

Freightlink Europe Director, Lesley O’Brien OBE shall be discussing the relationship with agencies at the forthcoming Road Transport Expo 2022 on 1 July at NAEC Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

This month Freightlink Europe Director, Lesley O’Brien OBE, was privileged to be invited to a meeting of YABA  and an opportunity to meet with The Right Honourable Priti Patel MP.  She addressed her directly with regard to challenges facing the transport industry.

With so many issues to discuss, Lesley chose the ongoing problem of insufficient safe and secure parking for HGV drivers.  Despite circa 500,000 UK HGV driving licences, there are only 2 TAPA** approved parking areas in the whole of the UK.   It is alarming that theft from an HGV is treated in the eyes of the law in the same way as theft from a car.   It is therefore low risk, but high gain with the perpetrators often stealing high value goods and yet serving no custodial sentence.  Lesley stressed that addressing the safe and secure parking issue could attract drivers to the industry, deter criminals, reduce the cost of crime and costly insurance premiums, which of course impacts on transport costs and the cost of all purchases.  Priti Patel took on board the unjust penalty for theft from cars and HGVs and asked for further information

Noted that in April the Government pledged a further £20 million for improved roadside facilities (security/cleaner washrooms/better eating facilities).  £32.5 million was pledged in the 2021 Autumn budget.  Sadly, we cannot claim that this was a result of our meeting with the minister!!

*YABA – Yorkshire Asian Business Association

**TAPA – Transport Asset Protection Association – offering the highest standard of safe and secure parking

In April we were pleased to welcome to our new offices visitors Stephen Jordan, Head of the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) and our friendly bank manager, Philip Harrison from NatWest Bank .  Its always great when customers call in too and so it was a lovely surprise to receive a visit from our valued client  XPO Logistics.

We believe that business is all about creating supportive, collaborative relationships with both suppliers and customers.  At Freightlink Europe understanding, collaboration and communication is king.

We have moved

On 1 April, after almost 27 years of operating from Bradford we relocated to Halifax.  Our new operating centre is situated in central Halifax on the intersection of Lister’s Road and Shibden Hall Road, a location of Gentleman Jack fame.  We may not be as famous as the now renowned Ann Lister, but we are working on it.  As we continue to expand the location provides more space for both office staff, vehicle parking and storage.

We are delighted to congratulate Freightlink Europe partner on obtaining an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Announcement from the Road Haulage Association

Lesley O’Brien, managing partner of Freightlink Europe has been awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for championing the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce within the transport industry.

Lesley, a former RHA board member, has been an inspirational and passionate role model for women and young people throughout her career in the haulage industry.

Having worked within the male-dominated industry for 40 years, she has dedicated much of her professional career – and personal time – to promoting diverse and inclusive workforces within the industry – a workforce that has traditionally been undervalued.

In 2016 Lesley inspired the creation of She’s RHA, a scheme that supports, empowers and encourages individuals to promote and develop diverse and inclusive communities within the road transport industry.

Freightlink Europe, based in Bradford, is a family-run business established in 1995 by Kevin O’Brien. In 2008 Lesley O’Brien joined the firm, bringing with her 25 years of experience in the sector.

The company ethos is based on traditional core values of honesty, trust, respect, integrity, transparency, clear communication, hard work and dedication to provide only the best service.

Commenting, Lesley said: “I am completely overwhelmed by the number of messages of congratulations I have received on receiving my OBE. I feel truly humbled and honoured. It is an amazing privilege.

“I want to thank the Road Haulage Association for deeming me worthy and to those who have supported me on my transport journey – too numerous to mention. You are truly appreciated.

“To all the She’s RHA ladies, my amazing freight people colleagues and my fabulous team at Freightlink Europe, let’s continue to promote our industry, to fly the flag for diversity and inclusion and compliance, to encourage, support and be allies to colleagues and those less privileged than ourselves and to change the perception and culture of our industry.

“Over and above everything, my greatest joy is the pleasure this award has brought my parents.”

Mike Dawber from NavCIS (National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service) once again provided an informative review of current crime statistics.  It is of concern to note that despite a 40% drop in commercial vehicle crime following ‘lock down’, the last 2 weeks has evidenced a worrying increase in crime. Hot Spots continue to be Northampton and West Yorkshire (M62 corridor). There has been an increase in ‘hook up’ crimes and operators are advised not to leave trailers unattended in insecure areas.

Everyone was encouraged to continue to report crime to the police on 101 and then to report to NaVCIS – freight@navcis.pnn.police.uk.

Attendees were provided with the latest NavCIS Crime Bulletin in advance of the meeting and a digital copy of the CART Security Guide (Cargo and Road Transport Security Guide).

Phil Breen, DVSA Earned Recognition National Account Manager, delivered a most informative presentation on Earned Recognition, the DVSA initiative to ‘Help Stay Safe on Britain’s Roads‘ and a copy of the presentation was circulated to attendees. ‘Freight People’ present were given the opportunity to ask questions directly to not only Phil Breen but the Traffic and Vehicle examiner who accompanied him.

This was followed by Lesley O’Brien, Freightlink Europe partner giving a detailed story of her company’s journey from Public Inquiry (12 years ago), to ‘green operator’ to Founder Member Earned Recognition status. Lesley gave a 10 point list of the benefits, along with tips on how to prepare for the audit, find an auditor and IT provider.

What attendees said:

‘Today has been extremely helpful and I will definitely be looking into joining this scheme’.

‘Brilliant as usual, great speakers, I personally got so much from the ER presentation, it took the smoke away from going forward and the processes.

‘Just wanted to say thank you for another Fab event – always enjoy Mike’s presentation but I really liked the guy from the DVSA – I am definitely going to be looking into Earned Recognition……  I will definitely be signing up for July’s forum……. Oh and it helped you giving your experience – I love that you are so open and honest…. ‘

‘That was a good meeting and Phil was very informative. It has given me an insight as to what will be required for Earned Recognition’

‘We have a Board meeting next week and I am going to raise ER as an item, so thanks now that I am better informed’