Daniela leads the way with transport qualification success

Daniela May is on the road to career success with Lane Utilities after achieving a key professional qualification for transport managers.

She has been awarded her Level 3 Certificate Professional Competence for Transport Managers, and has been promoted to become Lanes Utilities’ Fleet Team Lead.

Daniella is now in charge of a transport team that has responsibility for managing more than 300 specialist drainage vehicles operated on behalf of Thames Water.

She started at Lanes Utilities, part of Lanes Group plc, the wastewater network services maintenance partner for Thames Water, as a Transport Fleet Co-ordinator, in January 2015.

Since then, she has undergone a range of operational training, including IOSH Managing Safely, FORS Practitioner, and Internal Auditor ISO 39001.

After gaining her Level 3 CPC for Transport Managers, which has a pass rate of just 40 per cent, she leads Lanes Utilities’ transport management team, based at the Customer Solutions Centre in Slough, Berkshire.

She said: “It feels like I have come a long way in a short time since joining Lanes Utilities. Previously, I was a sales administrator for a plastics manufacturer. It’s a great job, and working at Lanes is exciting. There is constant development, and every day brings new challenges.

“Our main responsibility, as a team, is to ensure our vehicle fleet is legally-compliant and operates safely at all times. Having very effective systems in place, backed up with excellent communication, is vital.

“We are always seeking to improve our processes, so they are more sustainable, in terms of safety, efficiency, and being environmentally-friendly.”

Lanes Utilities operates 133 HGVs, most of them highly sophisticated jet vac tankers, and 181 specialist drainage vans.

Daniela, along with her fleet co-ordinator Misbah Naeem and Fleet Administrator Nasrin Hussain, ensure mandatory vehicle maintenance and safety checks are programmed, and carried out, and that records are archived for the correct retention periods.

They also work closely with transport leads based in each of Lanes Utilities’ five regional depots, to promote efficient and effective management of fleet vehicles, and safe driving.

Encouraging safe driving is vital. Daniela and her team process and investigate all public comments, good and bad, about driver behaviour, and make sure actions and improvements are implemented.

They also award a prize, every six months, to the depot with the best vehicle management and driving record, based on a range of criteria, including compliance reporting, accident figures, and vehicle tracking data.