What is SaFED?

    SaFED is the acronym for 'Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving', a van driver training scheme which has its origins in the Large Goods Vehicle Sector. It began with a Department for Transport-backed training scheme set up in 2002 to look at safe and fuel-efficient driving for lorry drivers. The results of the programme saw 6,375 drivers trained and proved that driver training in SaFED principles benefited both the driver and the company with a 10% fuel saving and a 37% reduction in gear use, at the same time improving the overall Health and Safety standard and going some way to reducing the Corporate Road Risk of the Company.

    Some 66% of the country's company vehicles are involved in some form of traffic incident annually and driving a company vehicle is recognised as one of the most dangerous activities an employee can undertake. A company vehicle driver has a 1:200 chance of being killed in a lifetime of driving at work: the odds for a van driver are half as much again.

    Despite the recent reduction in fuel prices, fuel efficiency must still be very high on any company's agenda, and the application of SaFED principles will develop each drivers' awareness of fuel-efficient driving techniques. Both companies and drivers are amazed that the adoption of SaFED techniques does not jeopardise delivery timings, whilst simultaneously delivering great efficiencies!

    Over the last ten years, van drivers have travelled approximately 62.5 billion kilometres, burning up 5.5 billion litres of fuel. This has released some 16.8 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Following recent pilot schemes, there has been a significant reduction in both fuel consumption and gear use, resulting in substantial cost savings from both fuel efficiency and lack of damage/down time, and reduced driver stress.

    It is estimated that there are over 2 million registered vans on our roads, of whose drivers only approximately 10,000 receive any form of development training each year: that is only half of one per cent of all van drivers!

    The main emphasis of the training is on collision reduction and prevention, followed by the acquisition of fuel-efficient driving techniques and is a one-day off-the-job training scheme for two drivers per day. The scheme has funding available, but places are limited to 20 per company.

Enquire today about how ONWARD Driver Training can assist your company to join the elite SaFED fleet! Visit the enquiry page and contact us now.