Leeds engineering company bags £250k deal ensuring waste management firm's vehicle safety

SM UK, a Leeds-based £5m-turnover engineering firm, has won a £250k contract to install its HALO cyclist safety system across a 75 truck fleet for LSS Waste.

Said to be the North’s largest privately owned waste management company, Leeds-based waste management business, LSS Waste, provides skip hire and waste services predominantly in Yorkshire and now UK wide.

The firm recycles 95 per cent of the waste it recovers, generating energy via an on-site biomass boiler, while the remainder is used for refuse derived fuel.

After winning an initial project to install the system across 25 of its vehicles in 2017, the new contract will see SM UK’s HALO package, which incorporates live recorded CCTV, rolled out across the whole 75-strong LSS Waste fleet.

The firm’s HGVs travel mainly on urban routes where there is a higher risk of potentially serious accidents between trucks and cyclists at road junctions.

SM UK’s HALO system is designed to correct the blindspot that can cause collisions between cyclists and HGVs, particularly when a large vehicle makes a left turn. The equipment is also an effective measure against false insurance claims.

Nigel Woolford, managing director of LSS Waste, said: “We put the safety and wellbeing of our drivers at the forefront of everything we do at LSS and it was a very straightforward decision to install SM UK’s high-tech new system across the entire fleet.

“It’s a stressful and difficult job being an HGV driver so anything we can do to remove that stress, and of course to help make the roads safer, is beneficial. The feedback we have had from the team as we have rolled HALO out across the fleet has been brilliant.”

SM UK’s HALO system includes sensors fitted to the near side of the truck, activated when a cyclist or vehicle enters its detection zone.

Audio and visual warnings are also triggered when the vehicle signals to turn left, and an in-cab monitor provides the driver with 360 degree vision.

SM UK employs 55 people across its Leeds headquarters and nationwide fleet of mobile engineers. Its HALO cyclist awareness system was shortlisted for the 2018 Brake Fleet Safety Awards.