Georgia Platt
23 Feb 2025
Redwing actively works towards ensuring that all staff are adequately trained in vehicle safety and off-road operations, so the team have recently had the opportunity to gain/update their 4x4 certifications on a one-day course that showed them the essentials.
All staff at Redwing are offered a wide variety of training opportunities, a recent example of which being a 4x4 introductory training day from a certified and experienced off-roading instructor near Edinburgh.
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Hugh Roberts from Far by Four took those who required the official training out in threes for a day each in January and February, each time in one of the pick-ups from the Redwing fleet, and provided an excellent and informative practical day of learning the basics of how a 4x4 system works, and most importantly how and when to properly apply it. After a short indoor theory session, we each took turns to drive through a certain challenge whilst Hugh guided us through, ranging from reversing up a steep slope and engaging the hill descent control for the way back down, to driving through deep muddy tracks and water and being aware of the limits of what should be attempted.
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A lot of us were taken aback by just how capable the trucks are when you just let them ‘do their thing’, and it was very useful to learn how to keep your cool and trust the vehicle when in a tricky situation.
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Of course, taking a handful of ornithologists out to the Edinburgh countryside meant plenty of avian distractions, but we managed to keep our heads focused on the driving whilst keeping Hugh entertained with our slightly quirky conversation. Many thanks go to Hugh for sharing his expertise and issuing us with our certificates – the course was perfect for learning the basics of off-roading, allowing for boosted confidence when being faced with the various tracks and obstacles that are often found onsite.