RTITB has just confirmed TNT Express Services UK & Ireland as Platinum Sponsor of the 2011 RTITB & Sumo Glove Lift Truck Operator of the Year Competition, for which online entries care of www.rtitb.co.uk/fltcompetition close on Friday 11 February. TNT’s Kingsbury hub will be the setting for the competition’s Southern England and Midlands final in mid June 2011, one of five national finals taking place around the UK this spring and summer.

As part of its Platinum Sponsorship, the competition will provide TNT with a unique opportunity to align themselves and their brand with a nationally recognised lift truck safety competition, seen by the industry as an innovative way to showcase effective training and pay respect to skilled operators. They will also receive a tailored package of promotion for their products and services, to include national, local and trade press advertising as well as inclusion in all of RTITB’s competition marketing.

Laura Nelson, RTITB Operations Director, said: “We are very pleased to announce TNT as a platinum sponsor; it is a positive sign for the training industry that such a highly recognised organisation has chosen to be involved with our competition. TNT are accredited with RTITB for their entire lift truck operator training, and this sponsorship highlights how seriously they value safety and training and recognise RTITB’s high standards. We look forward to working with TNT over the following months for what looks set to be a hugely successful event.”

Champion

Heading up TNT’s involvement in the 2011 RTITB & Sumo Glove Lift Truck Operator of the Year Competition is Simon Harper, Director of Operations, TNT Express Services UK & Ireland, and TNT’s recognised ‘Champion’ in respect of its relationship with the RTITB. He spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.

TNT Express Services UK & Ireland has over 1,100 forklift operators across 57 main operating locations, using counterbalance, reach and narrow aisle trucks and pedestrian operated equipment. TNT’s trucks work 24/7, predominantly moving cartons, boxes and pallets.

TNT is accredited ‘in-house’ for operator training by the RTITB, and has a complement of 60 lift truck instructors/ examiners. All TNT Express Services UK & Ireland locations are accredited by the RTITB for the provision of FLT Operator Registration and instructor examiner approval.

“By supporting this competition,” says Simon, “TNT is seeking to acknowledge the critical part that our forklift truck operators play in the ongoing success of the company. We want to further reinforce our position as a leading player at the forefront of operational safety. We want to provide the best operatives within TNT with a platform to demonstrate their skills and ‘shine’ in a competitive arena. Forklift drivers in general do not receive the recognition they deserve. Their role is highly skilled, and they provide the very backbone of the UK’s distribution industry.“

As TNT’s Director of Operations, Simon Harper explains, “I regularly review our FLT training provision with the Operations and Training teams. Much of this is derived from our well honed Accident and Near Miss reporting system, which, in turn, is a key component of the embedded safety culture at TNT.“

Sponsoring the Lift Truck Operator of the Year Competition is a natural fit for TNT, says Simon: “The objectives of this event are closely linked to how we achieve and deliver our safety strategy throughout our business. The RTITB event is entirely compatible with our drive to encourage our people to be the best they can and develop their potential. By encouraging our people we can both maintain and enhance our performance levels and help individuals achieve high levels of job satisfaction.”

TNT is the UK’s leading business-to-business express delivery operator with the largest single market share. The company delivers well in excess of 100 million items per annum on behalf of tens of thousands of customers, and is acknowledged as a barometer of the UK economy. On a global scale, the UK business is one of TNT’s highest performing units in terms of revenue and profitability.

Employing approximately 10,600 people in the UK and Ireland, TNT offers the widest range of time-guaranteed express delivery options. In addition the company’s time critical division TNT Special Services offers bespoke delivery solutions. As well as the core express business, TNT is also a specialist provider of outsourcing services via its TNT Business Solutions division to both the public and private sectors.

The tough economic climate continues to challenge many businesses. TNT is rising to that challenge: “TNT continues to operate at the ‘high end’ of its market where customers perceive we can add value in providing reliable, value for money, time critical delivery solutions. In challenging times, companies benefit from being able to differentiate themselves from their competitors. TNT has the best people in the express sector, offering the best service. In recent times TNT has benefited enormously from adopting the LEAN business methodology and finding innovative, cost efficient and common sense ways to work more efficiently and achieve higher performance levels.”

TNT has a long and proud history of Investing in People. It originally attained IIP accreditation in 1994 and was one of just 36 inaugural ‘Investor in People Champions,’ selected from over 36,000 UK registered company. TNT is a former winner of the European Foundation Quality Management (EFQM) Award and is accredited to ISO 14001, 18,001 and 9000.

Safety

TNT’s FLT operator training criteria reflect its culture, placing paramount importance on Safety and the ability to support the operational needs of the business: “TNT Express aspires to be a leader in health, safety and environmental best practice within the transportation industry by promoting a positive health, safety and environmental culture for the benefit of all our stakeholders. At TNT Express Services we are committed to managing our operations in a way that complies with all relevant health, safety & environmental legislation and any other requirements that relate to our activities, products or services. Health and Safety is part of our DNA and we strive to deliver continual improvement in performance.”

There are going to be National finals in Northern England, Southern England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, open to the top 16 successful entrants from each region that emerge from the online stage. Simon Harper hopes all TNT’s lift truck operators will enter the competition, “but realistically, we have aspirations to get at least one competitor in each regional final. We have 57 main UK operating locations, and have high hopes for one or two of our operators who we hope and believe have the requisite skills to win the competition.”

TNT is going all out to get the most from its participation in the competition, says Simon Harper: “Internally, we will encourage all relevant employees to enter and will utilise in-house communication channels such as the ‘One’ employee magazine, posters, local newsletters/intranet and other means to publicise the event. We will place materials on our website, engage with local and trade media and promote both our participation and, hopefully, our successes along the way.”

As the 2008 event proved, the RTITB & Sumo Glove Lift Truck Operator of the Year Competition 2011 is set to really come to life when the five national finals start later this year.

When we reach that exciting stage, as TNT’s Director of Operations Simon Harper says he will be proud to have the opportunity to show off TNT’s Kingsbury Hub, one of its prime locations, to the participants and supporters of the RTITB competition when they come there in June for the Southern England and Midlands National Finals.

“But what I’m looking forward to most of all,” Simon reveals, “is seeing TNT’s best lift truck operators show that they are the best of the best, on a national scale.”

RTITB

Tel: 01952 520218

Email: fltcompetition@rtitb.co.uk

www.rtitb.co.uk

TNT

Tel: 01827 303030

www.tnt.com

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