Barrie Wilson: Celebrating 20 Years in Transport!

Barrie’s career has unfolded against a backdrop of significant changes and digital transformation in the transport sector. We spoke to him about his insights into the evolution of the industry over the years.

Barrie’s journey in transport began at the Freight Transport Association (FTA), as a campaign advisor. He took on various roles, including event manager, tacho contracts manager, and account manager. While at FTA, Barrie worked closely with Mark Cartwright to help establish the Van Excellence Initiative, and later, the Van Excellence walk-around check app with FleetCheck – all in the name of bolstering safety, compliance, and professionalism for van operators.

In 2019, Barrie became a transport manager for H Sivyer, overseeing a fleet of 116 vehicles, before joining FleetCheck in 2020 to manage our partner program, and has been an integral member of our team ever since!

Reflecting on his time at FleetCheck, Barrie shared:

“FleetCheck has afforded me the ability to continue to nurture and grow my knowledge at an industry level. It’s a great company, with a great team, and great leadership. It’s just nice to be a small part of the journey of growth that we’re on now.”

With Barrie’s experience, along with other colleagues at the helm who bring 20-40 years of industry knowledge, FleetCheck is truly at the forefront of the fleet industry. Inevitably, this extensive experience informs everything we do and plays a massive role in making sure our products are fit-for-purpose and tailored to the real-world needs of fleet operations. Our approach is driven by the industry itself, and it’s gratifying to see that our customers clearly think so too:

Over the past 20 years, the transport industry has experienced a profound digital transformation. Environmental regulations and technological advances have driven significant changes, including the evolution of vehicle emission standards (Euro 1-7), the introduction of low and ultra-low emission zones, the shift from analogue to digital tachographs, and now, the rise of EV’s and alternatively fuelled vehicles. In 2012, OCRS (Operator Compliance Risk Scoring) was introduced – an early example of how the industry began leveraging technology to improve targeted enforcement and regulation. Additionally, technologies like EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) and SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) were implemented with Euro 4 emission standards to reduce air pollution, alongside the more recent introduction of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.

Looking forward to the next 20 years, Barrie predicts further digitalisation:

“I see fleet management becoming fully digital. Paper based driver checks, like analog tacho charts, will be a thing of the past. These days, drivers can find their phone quicker than they can find a pen. Technology will play an even greater role, empowering fleet managers to be more efficient with their time.”

When asked ‘Why FleetCheck?’, Barrie answered:

“It’s the culture of the company, and it’s a fantastic product – I’ve always had faith in it. At FleetCheck, we’re always at the forefront of new developments. Plus, I’m particularly excited about our partnership with VDO. They produce 80% of all tachographs fitted to vehicles, so they really are an industry leader in what they do.”

We appreciate all your hard work, Barrie, and are incredibly grateful to have you on the team! We look forward to seeing where the next 20 years will take you – and the industry as a whole.