Quality accolades for IMPERIAL Cargo

Line haul and local transportation and warehousing services, as offered by Imperial Cargo, is affected by all manner of SHEQ considerations, and this division of the Imperial Logistics Group is celebrating numerous achievements in these areas.

The company received Road Traffic Management System (RTMS) accreditation for its local Consol and Distell fleets as well as for its container fleet. RTMS – a voluntary industry-led self-regulation scheme – encourages consignees, consignors and transport operators engaged in the road logistics value chain to implement a vehicle management system that preserves road infrastructure, improves road safety and increases the productivity of the logistics value chain.

“These accreditations are a confirmation of our strategy to add value in the service offering to our customers, and our vision to be a responsible and respected service provider of choice in the logistics industry in southern Africa,” says Christo Theron, managing director of Imperial Cargo.

The RTMS requirements include an annual surveillance audit and quarterly follow-up. “Driver training is a business imperative to ensure ongoing compliance with RTMS best practice,” Theron adds. “In our experience, accreditation also lifts the morale of our drivers through the focus it puts on driver wellness.”

Two further achievements are the company’s ISO 14001 accreditation, and its 90,2 percent achievement in the Sasol Safety and Quality Assessment System (SQAS) audit. ISO 14001 specifies the criteria for an environmental management system (EMS) for small to large organisations. “Imperial Cargo chose to pursue the ISO 14001 as it assists the company to improve its business, reduce environmental risks and minimise our operations’ impact on the environment. It supports the Environmental Sustainability Policy of Imperial Logistics.”

The Sasol SQAS Audit aims to reduce risk in the transportation and handling of Sasol’s products, and ensure that logistics service providers have world class safety and quality systems in operation. The audit also assists Sasol in selecting service providers. Significantly, Imperial Cargo’s 90,2 percent was attained by the company’s in-house SHEQ team. “Thousands of rands were saved since organisations normally use consultants for implementation,” Theron explains.

“This is a very strict audit and we were proud to have been commended by SQAS auditor Thulile Mabogo, a specialist in transport risk,” he concludes.