MTA 2021 winner Partnership

John Marks, client partner at Partners& (second right) presents the trophy to Paul Nunn, marketing manager at Maple Fleet Services (centre) and partners with host Alexander Armstrong (far left)

In a closely fought contest Maple Fleet Services came out top in the Partnership Award partly because of the uniqueness of its entry. As one of our judges noted: “This is a partnership of more than two; rather it is a partnership of many bringing together a disparate collection of organisations and as such it is worthy of considerable praise.”

Maple focused on the ‘Cargo and road transport (CART) security guide’, a collaborative project involving professionals from the police, road transport and insurance industries who share a passion to combat and disrupt cargo crime.

Project members include the RHA, DHL, Royal Sun Alliance, Motorway Buddy, National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service and Secure Supply Chain Scotland. The objective of the CART guide is to raise awareness of the often overlooked subject of cargo crime, while promoting best-practice guidance to combat this ever-evolving threat.

The original guide was launched in 2017, since when 2,500 hard copies have been distributed direct to transport managers, loss prevention specialists and other industry stakeholders. It has also been downloaded and shared many thousands of times.

A version of the CART guide aimed at drivers was launched in September 2020 and more than 6,000 hard copies have already distributed directly to commercial vehicle drivers. Once more, a digital version is also available for download.

Our judges said the guide “sets out the real cost of cargo crime and a framework of practical suggestions”. One added: “The guide is deeply original document and the organisations supporting it deserve credit for the collaboration for the wider good of the industry. The guide is so good operators should buy two copies in case one is stolen!”

“Our aim and objective was to improve security across the transport industry”

Paul Nunn, marketing manager, Maple Fleet Services