Iron Mountain, the global leader in storage and information management services and one of our longest serving Business Champions, has just updated its Driving for Better Business case study. With a fleet of 450 vehicles, vehicle damage, maintenance and fuel are some of the biggest costs to the business, yet continued effective management of those who drive for work has enabled these costs to be cut dramatically
WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED SO FAR?
HOW WE DROVE ACCIDENT COSTS DOWN – AND BOOSTED OUR BOTTOM LINE
In 2008 Iron Mountain formulated a brand new business plan for an improvement in the management of work-related road risk. The objectives were to reduce risk for both the business and its drivers, and to reduce the various costs associated with running the fleet. The results have been astonishing.
The process began with an in-depth fact-finding operation in partnership with Zurich Risk Engineering, giving Iron Mountain a clear understanding of where the key costs were, what the targets should be, and what needed to be done to meet them.
Rory Morgan – the man behind Iron Mountain’s success in reducing fleet costs, and road safety charity Brake’s Road Risk Manager of the Year 2017 – has three golden rules of road risk management.
Rule One: analyse and understand the root cause of every issue. Or as he puts it: “At Iron Mountain we report on everything, whether it’s a clipped door mirror or if someone has reversed into a gatepost in the yard”.
Rule Two: do something about it – without delay. “Any remedial action is taken when it is required and no detail is too small,” says Rory. “It could be in reaction to telematics scores or a manager picking up that a driver is not so good with tachographs.”
Rule Three: maintain and manage – don’t walk away. “You cannot take your eye off the ball,” says Rory.
“The work-related road risk management programme that Iron Mountain have in place has been rightly recognised throughout the industry as being best in class. The ongoing improvements in the collision and claim rates are a testament to the excellent work that Rory and his team are doing on a daily basis – the results speak for themselves.”
Andy Price. Practice Leader – Europe, Motor Fleet, at Zurich Risk Engineering
SPREADING THE WORD – TIPS FOR SUCCESS
So what are the secrets of that success? Determination and strategic planning have always underpinned their journey.
The adoption of driver behaviour telemetry in 2011 has been one of the key contributors to the programme, however, it wasn’t just a case of fitting the technology and hoping for the best. Iron Mountain recognised the power of this tool but knew it would need to be closely managed to be effective in the long run.
Working closely with the drivers, the number of speeding violations were reduced by over 80% in just six months – a resounding success yet, crucially, the on-time delivery service KPI of 99.97% has not been affected by the initiative and means drivers now realise they don’t have to speed to get the job done.
The system delivered a return on investment within just eight months and has now been installed across most of the European fleet covering 12 countries. So successful has this work been that, according to their telematics supplier GreenRoad, Iron Mountain records the best results for this system worldwide.
Iron Mountain’s customers often ask about their road safety and sustainability record and, thanks to their track record, they are delighted to discuss it with them. The Central Compliance Team is always pleased to demonstrate and share their successful approach assisting other companies to work on their own risk reduction, something they do as part of being a Driving for Better Business Champion.
