When ORANGE STANDS for ROAD SAFETY

EXPRESS TRAILERS has chosen April as the Road Safety month and over the coming days, it will be launching a nationwide campaign to promote more responsible road sharing.

FRANCO AZZOPARDI, Chairman and CEO of EXPRESS TRAILERS explains the importance of this campaign, why the company has taken this initiative and what it aims to achieve.

WHY WOULD A TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS COMPANY LIKE EXPRESS TRAILERS TAKE UP A ROAD SAFETY CAUSE?

The answer is very simple. Our company is regarded as the leading respected transport and logistics operator in Malta. We deploy a very large fleet of trucks, trailers and vans to deliver most of everyone’s essential day to day commodities, and we have always acknowledged that a company like us must be a nuisance on the road. So, we wanted to redress the balance a bit and we felt that promoting road safety would be most in line with our operations as active road users.

This does not mean that we just woke up and decided to start advocating for safety. Safety was always high up on our agenda because of the respect we have for our people, especially our drivers. who we always make sure can operate in the safest environment. We are just extending this respect to all the community in which we operate. In fact, it has now been quite some years since we started taking a more active role in the community by promoting more responsible road sharing and we did this when we started supporting other more vulnerable road users, such as athletes, first through our sponsorship to the Żurrieq Wolves Athletic Club’s Half Marathon event. Eventually, we continued extending this support to other clubs such as the Mosta Cycling Club and the Mellieħa Athletics Club.

What prompted Express Trailers to launch this national campaign?

We decided to start this national campaign because traffic is very high on the country’s agenda and as Malta’s leading transport and logistics company, we

At Express Trailers, together with all our employees, we have managed to coin our collective brand identity under the tagline WeAreOrange. In our dictionary, today being ORANGE means upholding the highest standards that define us as a brand namely excellence, experience and expertise in all we do and in how we do it.

feel compelled to commit ourselves to advocate more actively in favour of road safety on Malta’s roads through a national campaign. When I joined Express Trailers as its Chairman and CEO, I found a company that enjoys a very positive track record and widespread respect as a responsible road user. In fact, it was very easy for us to also find the support of Transport Malta and the Malta Road Safety Council who are supporting us in this campaign. Although most of the campaign will be communicated throughout April, road safety is a principle that calls to be respected all year round.

YOU SPECIFICALLY REFER TO ‘MORE RESPONSIBLE ROAD SHARING’ COMPARED TO THE MORE COMMON NOTION OF ‘MORE RESPONSIBLE DRIVING’.

Although when we think of road safety, we automatically think of drivers who need to drive responsibly, many times we forget that really and truly, on the road, everyone is responsible. In fact, safety on the road should be a top priority for everyone because on the road, everyone is borrowing space, and everyone has an acquired right to use the roads. Therefore, every road user is responsible for the safety of all other road users. If a pedestrian decides to cross the street from a blind corner and gets run over, the fault is the pedestrian’s and not the car driver’s. If a cyclist or a runner is using the road to train, they need to be wearing protective gear which also makes them visible. We specifically refer to ‘road sharing’ because this is what it is all about: sharing the road by different agents – drivers, commuters, pedestrians, athletes, bikers, cyclists and more. Everyone is responsible for others not just when we are at the wheel of a vehicle

WHERE DOES THIS CAMPAIGN FALL WITHIN EXPRESS TRAILERS’ OPERATION?

Express Trailers is going through an important phase. From an operations perspective, we are investing in our setup to be able to start expanding internationally. Locally, we have invested in a total facelift of our external yard, our workshops and in our fleet, purposely because we are constantly advocating in favour of safer operations. Bigger operations translate into bigger responsibility to act as a flag bearer for this very important cause because above all, we invest in the right people to become responsible drivers. We are proud to be in this privileged position that allows us to advocate for more safety on the road. All this supports our constant commitment towards safer operations

YOU REFER TO YOUR COMPANY’S DRIVERS AS YOUR BRAND AMBASSADORS. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT?

Our drivers, the ones driving our orange fleet, take safety extremely seriously. They play an active role in upholding our company’s commitment to safer operations and this is what earned them the right to be our foremost ambassadors on the road. Let us make no mistake about how tough their job is, being on the road all day long whatever the weather and traffic conditions. I make sure that they are constantly being commended not only for their dedication and pride in their job but also for the respect they show on our roads. Therefore, from here, I take the opportunity to salute all our drivers whom I consider as our flag-bearing heroes on the road. And today, besides being our brand ambassadors, they are now being called to be ambassadors for road safety in a campaign which celebrates this collective commitment.

WHAT, IN YOUR OPINION, DOES THIS CAMPAIGN SAY ABOUT EXPRESS TRAILERS?

I feel that this national Road Safety campaign helps us to consciously transmit the differentiating qualities of our Orange brand and the culture it reflects. At Express Trailers, together with all our employees, we have managed to coin our collective brand identity under the tagline WeAreOrange. In our dictionary, today being ORANGE means upholding the highest standards that define us as a brand namely excellence, experience and expertise in all we do and in how we do it.

Having said that, although Express Trailers is fronting this campaign, in no way must this be limited to our people, drivers or employees. This is a national campaign because the issue of safety on the road is a national one. Everyone is a road user and, therefore, everyone is being called to act responsibly on the road. On the road, we are all vulnerable and ultimately, we are all being called to contribute to each other’s safety.

For more information about the Road Safety campaign, visit www.expressroadsafety.com