Food bank De Bilt offers its drivers extra safety with Easy Step rear step
25-04-2023
Customer case
Food bank De Bilt
Food bank De Bilt helps residents of the six cores of the municipality of De Bilt, namely Bilthoven, De Bilt, Groenekan, Hollandsche Rading, Maartensdijk and Westbroek with food aid. The recipients have run into financial difficulties and do not have enough money left over each week to buy food and clothes. Over the past nine months, Voedselbank De Bilt saw the number of people eligible for assistance rise from 417 to 562. That increase puts considerable pressure on the total of 85 volunteers who have to make sure there is always enough supply to spend.Six days a week, 15 volunteer drivers drive a delivery van to various supermarkets in De Bilt and surrounding areas to collect foodstuffs, which the food bank passes on to people who qualify. On top of that, the van also drives several times a week to distribution centres in Utrecht and Arnhem of Voedselbanken.nl, the national umbrella organisation under which 172 food banks in the Netherlands are affiliated.
"The amount of food we can offer depends entirely on what we manage to collect with the van," says bus coordinator Jaap Kingma. "Our driver gets everything; from a crate containing three products to 70 full crates at a time. They have to load and unload everything all the time, stepping in and out of the loading area many times a day."
New van with Easy Step rear step
The food bank recently took delivery of a new van. To help the volunteers work as safely as possible, we helped them on their way with an Easy Step rear step. We asked the drivers about their experiences met de Easy Step.
"The Easy Step step is a lot more stable, wider and safer than our previous rear step. The height is also just right. With it, we think the chances of misstepping or slipping are very low."
"Getting in and out of the cargo area with our old van was actually an adventure every time. The van did have some kind of rear step, but it was very narrow and slippery," drivers Gerard van Dijk and Bert Roozendaal tell us.
"You always had to think carefully where you put your feet. This new Easy Step rear step is and a lot more stable, much wider and fitted with good anti-slip strips. That feels much safer. The height is also just right, making you less likely to get knee problems. We also think there is now very little chance of us misstepping or slipping. So we are very happy with this new step."
"You always had to think carefully where you put your feet. This new Easy Step rear step is and a lot more stable, much wider and fitted with good anti-slip strips. That feels much safer. The height is also just right, making you less likely to get knee problems. We also think there is now very little chance of us misstepping or slipping. So we are very happy with this new step."
