The academy was established at Palletforce's 400,000 sqft. hub to train drivers working at night.

Palletforce's forklift driving academy that trains forklift drivers for night shifts has been nationally recognised by industry professionals.

The company's innovative project was highly commended in the People Development category at the 2011 IFW awards organised by IFW online news for the freight and logistics industry.

"We were thrilled to be named as finalist for our category in the IFW awards, but to have this extra recognition for our investment in our staff is fantastic," says Dave Holland, sales and marketing director.

The academy was established in 2010 at Palletforce's 400,000 sqft. (37,000 sqm) hub to ensure drivers working during the busy night shift had the skills and knowledge to work efficiently and safely.

Academy trainees learn while they earn. Once they gain their counterbalance forklift licence, they gain employment. Several trainees have already passed through the academy and gone on to work for Palletforce.

"Working with people who are highly skilled, well trained and knowledgeable is simply the best way to ensure a smooth operation," Holland says.

Established in 2001, Palletforce claims to be the UK and Europe's leading member-owned pallet network, offering services for small consignments of palletised freight, including next-day, economy and timed delivery options. It has over 100 depots and a GBP30 million (USD47 million) distribution hub based at Burton-upon-Trent.

Separately, Mentor Forklift Training UK of Chesterfield, which last year became the first UK distributor of the award-winning Accu-tilt forklift tilt-level indicator, has unveiled an updated version of its forklift operator course (Forkliftaction.com News #523). It now features video clips to complement the course material and includes more tips on maintaining a safe work environment.