Trucking Awards
Anthony Smith (left), senior transport advisor at Sasol, hands over the certificate to ‘MG’ Tayoob (right) and HSE manager Krish Lutchminarain.
Bakers Tankers, a division of the highly respected and successful Bakers Transport, has achieved a milestone in its quality standards by being awarded the Sasol Approved Suppliers Certificate for logistics service providers.
This now makes Bakers Tankers not only an approved logistics service provider to the Sasol Group but, as pointed out by Anthony Smith, senior transport advisor at Sasol, opens other opportunities for the company in that it enables it to now approach all the bigger oil and energy companies with a view to obtaining business.
The certificate was handed over by Smith to an extremely proud ‘MG’ Tayoob, chief executive of Bakers Tankers, and his right-hand-man on Health, Safety and Environment, Krish Lutchminarain. Also in attendance were a number of staff who joined in the celebration held in Johannesburg.
In his speech, Smith paid high tribute to the focus and dedication of the management and staff of Bakers Tankers in their quest to achieve the highest standards of safety and quality in their operation. This was evidenced by the fact that the company received a 94% score in the safety and quality assessment audit done by Sasol.
As pointed out by Smith, it is not an easy road to travel and requires total commitment from management and staff as Sasol follows the Safety Quality Assessment System (SQAS) based on the European model which has been adapted for South African conditions.
Not only do the rigs of Bakers Tankers look good but there is a whole safety and quality structure behind them.
"This is one of the most comprehensive systems in the world with over 50 countries adopting it as a standard," says Smith, adding that Sasol went for this high standard as the company expects transporters working for Sasol to comply with the best in the world.
He also stressed that it doesn’t stop with the awarding of a certificate. "You have to maintain an on-going focus on safety and quality and if you do this, it soon becomes a way of life with multiple benefits arising from it."
Apart from such business benefits, Lyndon Smith – now an independent consultant who many will remember from his days with BP – pointed out that the company itself also benefits immensely from having such standards in place.
"It’s not only about where the company goes but it’s also about looking after your Bulk Vehicle Operators (drivers) as well as the technical side of the vehicles. If one considers that each rig is valued at around R2,5-million and is carrying around 45 000 litres of product at around R8.00 per litre, you’re looking at just under R3-million a rig. In Bakers Tankers, there are 40 such rigs in operation so that’s a huge investment that needs to be protected and looked after," he said.
Having been an observer of Bakers Transport for many years, the awarding of such a certificate to this division of the company comes as no surprise to this writer. After all, they’ve been going for some 40 years and operate over 300 other rigs in the Bakers Transport fleet. Attaining and adhering to high standards is natural to Bakers Transport. There is no other way.
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HEADLINES JUNE 2010