By Alastair Houston, Head of National Fleet Sales at Northgate plc
The UK’s roads are becoming increasingly congested, with this problem predicted to cost the British economy more than £300bn over the next 16 years. At the same time, customers are demanding a faster turnaround of deliveries and higher levels of customer service than ever before. These changing consumer attitudes and the fast pace of our modern lives isn’t set to change any time soon, so it’s crucial that businesses adapt in the face of increasing pressure through improved operational performance.
What can be done to combat this challenge? A simplified response would include the words ‘visibility’ and ‘control’ and whether the fleet manager is operating cars, vans, minibuses or plant vehicles, this control can be acquired through the introduction of telematics software.
There is little doubt that the adoption of telematics amongst fleet operators is increasing and so should more businesses be considering the benefits of integrating telematics into their fleet? We have summarised some of these key benefits to help businesses make informed decisions around fleet management best practice. Broadly speaking, the benefits centre on cost efficiencies, reduced CO2 emissions, improved customer service as well as reduced fleet risk.
Monitoring and improving driver behaviour
For companies that want to focus on making efficiencies and reducing costs, telematics delivers a variety of benefits. As increased visibility of driver behaviour means driving styles can be positively influenced to improve business efficiencies and enable businesses to operate safe fleets.
By monitoring driver behaviour, you can pinpoint inefficient driving behaviour such as heavy acceleration and harsh breaking. Telematics can also help you spot potentially dangerous drivers and then introduce appropriate training courses to help them improve their skills.
Another key benefit from a business improvement point of view is that you will be able to pinpoint the location of your drivers. By doing this, you will be able to identify the location of stolen vehicles and any staff who are using the vehicle out of working hours (which means they could be uninsured and using company fuel for personal use).
Additional features include the ability to export data reports, making it a powerful business improvement tool. Morgan Sindall has proved that Northgate’s vehicle monitoring system can aid employee engagement and boost morale in the area of driver behaviour. The company recently named Mick McHugh the winner of its quarterly Driver Challenge competition, which aims to develop and reward best practice.
Duty of care
Safety and improved driver behaviour are interlinked, and telematics delivers the added benefit enabling businesses to improve fleet safety. Morgan Sindall promote exactly these benefits, having been able to reduce off-hire damage, in-life damage, fuel consumption and accident damage by improving driver behaviour and recording a 20-30% reduction in speeding instances.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers have a statutory duty to carry out a health and safety risk assessment of their employees which includes any driving activity on the road. Furthermore, by law, you can’t work more than 48 hours a week on average. Therefore, telematics provides an excellent way for employers to be able to monitor hours driven and the number of breaks taken and thereby reduce fleet risk.
Reducing fuel costs and CO2 emissions
By reducing fuel, businesses can also simultaneously reduce CO2 emissions through improved driver behaviour, as key performance indicators can be set to help businesses monitor and reduce CO2.
If your company is a PLC, it is important to be able to demonstrate a reduction in your carbon footprint on an annual basis (to meet ISO 14001 and 19001 standards), both from a perception and a money-saving point of view.
Improving customer service
Meeting, and indeed exceeding, customer expectations is top of the list for customer-focused brands and this is where the benefits of telematics can really come into their own. With customers looking for better communication and certainty around delivery times, Northgate Vehicle Monitoring enables accurate time management by providing minute-by-minute updates on the status of your fleet.
Many businesses also utilise telematics software to monitor driver idling and by doing so can significantly improve business efficiency. This can be incredibly useful for improving customer service levels, especially if the telematics systems can also calculate efficient route planning. Some systems also allow the vehicle to identify the quickest, most efficient route to a destination, saving money, time and ultimately improving service delivery.
The ability to set KPIs and targets means that fleet managers and business owners can see a clear return on investment through adopting telematics. So, if your business is focused on safety and efficiencies and is operating within a challenging consumer-oriented climate, telematics could offer the perfect solution for you. For more information visit our page on telematics.
Contact us to find out about fleet management or van long-term rental and leasing today.