ECG — 2025-02-14
News from ECG
1 in 10 incidents involving drivers from trucking companies in the FVL industry occur when loading and unloading vehicles at retailers, raising concerns for ECG – the Association of European Vehicle Logistics. “Our report serves as a significant eye-opener for the industry. 10% is a figure that indicates there is still a lot of scope for us to improve safety in the industry,” says Johannes Alexander Hödlmayr, CEO of Hödlmayr International GmbH, who leads the working group.
The Health & Safety Working Group focuses on improving driver safety and ensuring a safe working environment in finished vehicle logistics. In 2020, the Safe Loading Guidelines were published - a detailed process presented, in a highly visual way, for all drivers to follow and load safely. Different subgroups tackle various issues, with a new focus group specifically regarding delivery at retailers.
One main problem is that there often isn´t any dedicated loading and unloading space at the retailer, which means the drivers can´t work in a safe environment. Drivers often report insufficient unloading space at various retailers, bringing attention to these situations. Sometimes, they have no choice but to unload vehicles in the middle of the street with traffic passing next to them at up to 70 km/h.
“Through our yearly incident reporting activity, we noticed different types of incidents happening at delivery sites, some resulting in severe injuries. Incidents during loading and unloading at retailers are increasing, which is concerning,” says Jovana Vancevska, Research & Project Manager, ECG.
In total, 1 of 10 incidents reported to ECG occurs during delivery at retailers.
In 2021, five incidents occurred during the loading and unloading processes at retail locations. Two of these incidents resulted in serious but recoverable injuries, while two were less severe, and one was a near-miss that could have led to an accident.
In 2023, the number of incidents increased to 8, with 3 being severe but recoverable and 5 classified as "near misses.”
But this is only part of the story. Regrettably such circumstances are so commonplace that we know the vast majority go unreported and drivers are put in harms way far, far too often.
On February 25, ECG will arrange a webinar to launch a new escalation process for trucking members. The process introduces a new approach companies can follow and receive assistance from ECG if they can´t solve the problem themselves.
“The process consists of different steps, from trying to resolve the issue with the local retailer, to addressing the OEM and, ultimately, to get support from ECG.”, says Jovana Vancevska.
The most frequent category of accidents are slips, trips and falls, sometimes from the truck´s second level. The most serious incidents are nearly always falls from height. Accidents during “roll-offs” occur when the car is not secured on the truck's deck and the parking brake is not correctly engaged. This can cause the vehicle to roll off the truck with the potential to cause a serious accident.
Register here for the webinar.