WDH pioneer new invention – and put Health & Safety first!

WDH Fleet Manager Rick Young

Any tradesman that drives a transit will tell you that one of the major hazards of their job is the retrieval of ladders from the top of their high-roofed vans.

Traditional transit roof-rack design has meant that tradesmen stand at the back of the van as they unlock the ladder and slide it down.

Simple enough, you might think.

However, by standing at the back – often with traffic whizzing by – the tradesmen may block the van’s rear reflector and hazard lights, inadvertently making himself dangerously unseen to other drivers.

Then of course there’s always the possibility that sliding the ladder behind them might scratch any nearby parked cars.

It’s always been like that and no-one has ever offered an alternative… until our Fleet Manager Rick Young decided to do something about it.

Rick explains that he challenged our roof-rack supplier TrukRax to come up with a safer option back in 2008.
“The contract for a number of our fleet of vans was coming to an end and I wanted to have something in place when the new vans arrived,”

explains Rick.

“So I went to see TrukRax and pretty soon they were coming back with designs and ideas.

“They already had a side-loading version for your typical smaller white vans which I’d seen, but making one for tall transits and heavy ladders would involve some different thinking.”

TrukRax Sales and Marketing Manager Scott Finding says he was excited by the challenge issued by Rick but knew the new system would need hydraulic assistance.

“The new system involves two gas springs and a damper system. We have been thinking about the new system for ages now but we never really got time to develop the idea. As soon as Rick came along, we got onto expanding the plans.”

With the deadline for the system fast approaching, Rick says the team at TrukRax felt the pressure.

“The deadline was tight, but we knew we would get all those boxes ticked and signed and get those racks onto the vans.”

In the nick of time, the new system was unveiled and ready to go on the new fleet of vans.

“It was a great achievement,” says Rick. “It was a great example of teamwork and good communication. The device is brilliant…and it works well.”

With the system quickly added to our new fleet, word of mouth quickly spread – and TrukRax has been inundated with phone calls from all over the UK.

Scott says a large part of the innovation’s success is down to WDH’s attitude to its employees.

“Many companies never look at the safety issues of products and what harm it could do to their employees. WDH, however, put their employees first.

“Working together we have been like the A-Team!”

Rick agrees.

“Here at WDH we strive to supply the best equipment to assist our employees to achieve the best results. This new roof system saves time, assisting our employees to work more efficiently.”

A new invention – the first of its kind in the UK. Move over, James Dyson!