MAKING SAFETY A PRIORITY
Not all cargo van floors are safe. Is yours putting your workers at risk?
It’s winter and snow is everywhere. One of your drivers steps in his van and slips on the plywood floor of the cargo space. No van operator should need to guess what danger exists in their van fleet. It is why safety is something North America’s leading manufacturer of cargo van linings and floors, LEGEND Fleet Solutions, takes very seriously, working to remove the burden by building safety into their products for you.
Safety can make the difference between going to work, and loving your work.
FLOORS THAT ARE STRONG, LIGHTWEIGHT, AND ANTI-SLIP
Ensuring everything in your van is on solid footing and doesn’t move - if you don’t want it to - is key to protecting not only yourself but your equipment as well. When considering a new floor for your van, toughness and durability is always at the top of mind but there’s one other essential aspect that rarely gets enough attention: ‘grippiness’ or coefficient of friction.
It’s a common misconception that the ability to be sure-footed and not slipping on the floor of your van in winter or wet conditions is the exclusive responsibility of your footwear. That’s only half true. The other half is that this responsibility should fall on your van floor as well. With a floor treated with, or constructed out of, anti-slip material you can greatly reduce, and in some cases, eliminate the danger of a serious fall inside your van in slippery weather conditions just as Riverford Organic Farmers discovered when they outfitted their fleet with LEGEND.
Industry standards recommend a COF (Coefficient of Friction) Rating of 0.60 or higher on a level surface and an 0.80 rating for access ramps. The higher the COF rating, the higher the anti-slip resistance in dry or wet conditions. Once a material hits a rating of 1, you’ll find significant difficulty moving it across a floor which presents its own unique hazards.
SAFETY OF YOUR DRIVERS
Legend Fleet Solutions realized that the common requirement of cargo van linings had always been strength and resistance to harsh impacts – the two most in-demand components. But a third component – the safety of the worker - had always been an afterthought. So Legend developed a sustainable (75% recycled materials) composite floor that provided all three components in two powerful products: EVOLVE and STABILIGRIP flooring. With these two flagship products, durability, light weight and effective ‘grippiness’ exists in one solution.
To further call attention to Legend’s commitment to the employee who spends their time in the back of a cargo van, Insulated DuraTherm van linings were developed to mitigate heat inside the cargo area. These advanced linings successfully reduce the impact of vans predisposition to act as ovens in hot climates.
A combination of insulated ceiling liners and wall liners upfitted into a work van operating in hot climates can effectively create a thermal barrier preventing outside heat from increasing inside the cargo area. Pair wall and ceiling liners with a floor covering and you can inhibit heat from the road as well, further cooling the interior and easing worker fatigue.
KNOWN RISK
How about reducing the temperature your van cargo space by 20 degrees Fahrenheit? It is possible with Legend’s industry-proven liners and floors. But fleet owners must face another hurdle; heat is what is called a known risk. It means that ignoring this risk – not taking steps to reduce heat increases within your vans – could have serious consequences to your business.
Awareness is key to creating and maintaining a safe working environment for both your fleet and your drivers. A very informative article about how to reduce this risk is here
Legend’s solutions ensure your business, your employees, and your brand, are protected from hazards that otherwise could spell disaster for your operations. If you want to begin to explore heat mitigation in your fleet vehicles, please reach out to us, we want to help.