Fleet accreditation scheme Mission Zero has joined forces with global standards and practices advisor DEKRA in a move intended to revolutionise the audit experience and set “unprecedented standards” for the industry.

Nick Caesari, Mission Zero CEO

Launched late 2021 and aimed at fleet operators from cars to HGVs, the Mission Zero scheme enables organisations to adopt a roadmap towards the vision of zero collisions, zero emissions and zero prohibitions.

Its Work-Related Road Risk Module recently became the first fleet quality standard to be officially accredited by Transport for London as equivalent to FORS Silver, and therefore compliant with TfL’s Work-Related Road Risk (WRRR) requirements.

Mission Zero has now signed up DEKRA to carry out the majority of Mission Zero audits, as well as collaborating on the continuing development of the audit standards programme.

Nick Caesari, Mission Zero CEO, commented: “DEKRA is a global powerhouse when it comes to safety, standards and auditing. Crucially, they also share our values, passion and commitment for change; they are the obvious partner for Mission Zero to provide the best possible audit experience for our customers.”

He added that the partnership would raise standards on fleet accreditation audits while ensuring fleet operators receive the best possible audit experience.

“Mission Zero is a customer centric fleet accreditation scheme, by operators for operators, and our ‘customer first’ ethos means we have to ensure that the audit experience our customers receive is second to none, and supports operators throughout their Mission Zero journey.

“Since inception, Mission Zero identified that a different approach was required to ensure the customer experience was maximised through transparency and a high level of support on the day of the audit but also before and after through online resources, which is all aimed at making the audit experience valued.”

Mission Zero auditors discuss results throughout the audit, which are subject to final quality assurance approval, to ensure that operators fully understand what is expected by the standard and have every opportunity to demonstrate compliance. Auditors also signpost the wealth of free resources (policies procedures, risk assessments etc) that are available from Mission Zero so that customers can quickly address any gaps.

Caesari said: “We don’t use words like ‘fail’; nobody fails a Mission Zero audit, they just haven’t met the requirements as yet, but it is our role to ensure that our customers fully understand what is required and what support is available to help them.”

Jon Sweet, managing director of DEKRA UK, said: “Mission Zero’s fresh approach to both raising audit standards and customer service is fully aligned to our own values so we were very keen to partner and work alongside them to help support fleet operators, as well as the growth of the Mission Zero scheme.”