Cardiff City Transport Service

How it all started

It all began in 1902, when the Corporation of Cardiff started running electric powered trams in the city between Newport Road and the city centre. Humble beginnings for one of the most well-known public transport companies in the UK today. Fast forward to 2023, Cardiff City Transport company now carry 100,000 passengers every day on 3,000 journeys covering 27,000 miles.

Going green - Cardiff City Transport Services has made a considerably large investment to abandon diesel fuelled busses in favour of an all-electric fleet. Not only will this result in cleaner air in the city centre, but also less overall maintenance for the vehicles.

A responsible employer

Standard protocol dictates that all busses used for public transport are to undergo a full service every 28 days. This could involve anything from simple repairs to a possible full engine rebuild. If a vehicle has broken down, a team is always on hand, ready to investigate and carry out a repair.

The workshop is equipped with lower-level pits for a bus to reside over. This allows the engineers access to the undercarriage of the vehicle. The workshop facilities are designed to allow up to 17 different vehicles to be repaired at any given time.

Often the vehicles needing repairs are brought to the workshop straight off the road. The engineers maintaining the vehicles are often exposed to some very messy conditions involving oil, grease and grime.

Health and Safety is also a major concern. All employees are requested not to deviate from their demarcated areas and Hi-Vis clothing must be worn at all times to help prevent any incidents involving moving vehicles.

It is essential that the correct protective high-visibility workwear garments are worn at all times. Given all that is thrown at them, it is imperative that the garments are durable and comfort to wear throughout the day. David had a clear understanding of the business workwear requirement before he accepted the challenge of finding a new supplier to provide high specification clothing, with ongoing laundering and upkeeping repairs.

The Challenge

David Sanders managers a team of 60 highly skilled engineers, cleaners, and electricians with 198 vehicles in the fleet. To effectively and safely repair the vehicles to the standard that legislation dictates, all employees need to be equipped with the correct personal protective equipment (PPE), including workwear uniforms.

The technical bit - The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) defines PPE as ‘all equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects the person against one or more risks to that person’s health or safety, and any addition or accessory designed to meet that objective’.

The Solution

Once the decision was made to move to a new supplier, David was tasked with contacting several suppliers (local and national) to learn more about their services. After the initial contact, CLEAN’s speedy response and flexibility reassured David that he was in good hands.

David was looking for a supplier that could not only provide attentive customer support but also deliver on their promises. It was for this reason that Cardiff City Transport Services made a firm decision to align with CLEAN as their preferred workwear service provider.

CLEAN now supply Cardiff City Transport Services with a range of engineers boilersuits, trousers, and jackets. These comply with the RIS-3279-TOM and EN ISO 20471 standard with High Visibility features. The companies’ workers are often find themselves fixing vehicles out in the elements in all types of weather, high specification Tranemo jackets and trousers were chosen to keep people visible, dry and protected.

Each garment has a variety of features such as fire retardant or arc protection. All garments are labelled with the Cardiff City Transport logo. To make distribution even easier, they decided to incorporate CLEAN’s locker valet service. All garments are neatly packed and delivered on a regular, agreed schedule, straight to each employee’s individually appointed locker.

A bulk collector is also supplied for employees to easily deposit their used/dirty garments for our driver to collect. Once used/dirty garments are collected, they are returned to the laundry to be professionally laundered, checked for compliance and (if necessary) repaired.

Onboarding the right way

CLEAN’s onboarding and installations team are prepared for any eventuality to allow for a smooth transition from their existing supply service. David was guided each step of the way and reassured through regular communication that he had made the correct choice to align with CLEAN.

Any business would have reservations when changing to a new supplier. This feeling is often rooted in the concern that there could be some downtime between contracts when employees are without the correct workwear. CLEAN’s ability to respond to unpredictable situations, regular communication and flexibility has allowed us to mitigate any uncertainty our customers may experience.

Our customer service team and account managers work hand-in-hand with our customers to take care of any unforeseen circumstances to facilitate a seamless transition.

The Result

David Sanders explained that the main function of the workshop is to comply with legislation and to provide a safe and reliable vehicle to the people of Cardiff. The service that CLEAN provides empowers Cardiff City Transport Service to go further, to deliver a service to their customers. CLEAN’s collaborate approach, results in a holistic understanding of each customer and a solid alignment to their needs . Additionally, CLEAN provide detailed reporting and full traceability of the garments throughout the laundry process - all backed by an ISO9001 certified quality management system.

CLEAN’s goal is to continue to support Cardiff City Transport Services with reliable workwear they can depend on for many years to come.