A transport charter to ensure a safe beet campaign
Since 2011 100% of the beet transport to the Tienen and Longchamps factories has been in accordance with the transport charter. The aim is to reduce the nuisance to local inhabitants to an absolute minimum.
Every day 30,000 sugar beets are processed at the factories in Tienen and Longchamps. It takes 270 working 12 hours a day to transport all this sugar beet. There are about 140,000 trips per campaign. The continuous coming and going of the lorries carrying the beet can be a nuisance for local residents.
Together with the province of Flemish Brabant and the local police districts, the Raffinerie Tirlemontoise developed in 2010-2011 in the transport charter. All our own hauliers have since been obliged to sign this charter and to respect the rules it lays down. Today, we also work closely together with the police districts around Longchamps. The transport charter has become a national policy!
Concrete measures
The charter is a logical extension of the policy pursued for many years at the Raffinerie Tirlemontoise. It is a good thing that all the RT own hauliers are obliged to sign this charter. The haulier now gives a commitment with regard to concrete elements such as speed, punctuality and tidiness.
According to the complaints recorded by the local police districts, the nuisance for the local residents relates mainly to mud on the roads, the speed at which the lorries drive, and beet or pulp falling onto the road. In addition to obvious points such as respecting the highway code and the driving and rest times, the charter also gives concrete instructions for responsible behaviour, both in the field and on the public highway and within the factory perimeters.
Examples include: picking up beet that falls next to the lorry, keeping the environment clean, avoiding unnecessary noise, no consumption of alcohol or drugs, respecting the loading times, no unnecessary pumping of the horn, etc. In any event, the charter was received positively by all the parties concerned.
More measures during the beet campaign
In addition to the charter, RT has taken on several initiatives in order to put the charter into practice on the ground. For example, noise generated by the truck's exhaust pipe is measured regularly and we work with constructors and garages to determine how to further reduce noise. Each carrier also receives a high visibility jacket that he / she must put on on leaving the truck (both inside and outside our production sites). Finally, our contacts with various police authorities, who check (among other things) the road speed of our beet transporters, are intensified during the campaign.
In short, the transport charter is adjusted annually to ensure a safe and optimized beet campaign both in our production sites and outside!