Beyond the provision of quality fuel products, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation is also extending value-added services to its customer-partners that include strengthening safety standards and measures on fleet deployments.
Such sharing of safety standards was sounded off in the recently concluded Logistics Summit of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. (CCBPI), which is the bottling arm of multinational firm Coca-Cola in the country; and one of PSPC’s customer-partners under its Shell Fleet Solutions marketing program.
Shell’s safety culture, which is dubbed BiyaHero (Road Safety) program, is fused into its Shell Fleet Solutions offer to loyal customers, that also integrates fuel discounts, ferry bookings as well as the streamlining of toll payments which are all geared toward achieving efficient and more convenient fleet management.
According to Lily Keh-Camero, manager for health, safety, security and environment of Shell, through the BiyaHero program, “we’re not only providing the best quality fuel products and services, but we also share how we deliver these products in a safe and secure way.”
Launched in 2019, ‘BiyaHero’ which essentially is a word play of “Be A Hero’, has been Pilipinas Shell’s road safety pursuit anchored on promoting “best practices by advocating initiatives and partnerships,” – and that stemmed from insights that “safety is a shared responsibility among everyone on the road” – be it the drivers, riders, mechanics and even pedestrians who must all have their eyes on the road for safer travel.
On Coca-Cola’s part, Ruth Genota, logistics director of CCBPI, noted that “we have always placed great value on our partnership with Shell, because CCBPI’s road safety protocols are integral to how we do business.”
She added “every Coca-Cola bottle that reaches our consumers is backed by the implicit promise that it was manufactured, handled and delivered according to the strictest safety standards.”
Notably, Coca-Cola has one of the largest logistics network in the country – having a fleet of roughly 3,000 trucks and more than 2,000 sales service vehicles.
But given traffic and driving conditions in the country, the beverage firm acknowledged that “managing a vast and complex supply chain that spans the entire country becomes a bigger challenge on the rough roads of the Philippines.”
In fact, a report by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) had shown that of the 32,000 vehicular accidents from January to August last year, the bulk happened in Metro Manila – and of the total, it was also stated that 15-percent accounted for accidents involving truck fleets.
Genota said “road safety protocols demand a continuous journey of improvement,” and at Coca-Cola, she stressed that “given our goal to deliver quality products across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, we have to make sure that the logistics team are champions of road safety.”
Shell emphasized it has been working harder “to promote the best safety practices across a wide range of industries.”
The oil firm qualified that “setting the standard that other companies can follow is not just for business efficiency, but also to elevate the quality of transportation for its target customers.”