Driving for Better Business

This session was recorded at The Health & Safety Event 2021 and features Tony Greenidge - CEO, IAM Roadsmart

While there are many things that can be measured and improved, one of the key metrics is Accident Frequency Rate or AFR. If you aren’t measuring it, you aren’t managing it!

AES business benefits from road risk management include:

• Cheaper insurance year on year
• 25% cheaper running costs
• Better brand credibility
• No public complaints about poor driving in several years
• Immediate evidence should a claim occur with rapid first notification of loss
• No collisions in four years
• No unscheduled downtime
• Less absenteeism
• Peace of mind

AES also takes an active interest in driver welfare and mental health. Drivers have accommodation provided after long journeys, so they do not drive when tired. Both senior managers have taken mental health awareness training, so they know how to offer appropriate support. “A van is a tool. However, if you put someone tired or unwell behind the wheel it is a weapon,” Richard says. “My ethos is about getting everybody home safe to their families every night. That’s my underlying goal,” he adds. “We do everything we can to make that happen – and that’s the ultimate business benefit.”

The company does not sell any compliance solution it doesn’t use itself and its risk management starts by checking all driver licences regularly through FleetCheck. It trains all its drivers in thorough walk-round checks and defect reporting every morning and keeps a spare vehicle on fleet so that any defects can be addressed rapidly without a loss of productivity.

Webfleet Solutions telematics systems are integrated into its MANTIS LIVE camera systems, and this means that any exceptional incident such as harsh braking, an emergency alarm, or near miss is seen as an alert, the footage can be checked, and Richard immediately feeds back constructive criticism or praise to the driver as appropriate. Each incident can be resolved with notes showing what action was taken, so the company has a through audit trail of continuous improvement and close management control. Richard believes cameras are not only commonplace in UK life, but also essential for capturing a full narrative of what happens on the road, and coaching drivers appropriately.

He believes the fleet’s running costs are also reduced by approximately 25% each year through preventative maintenance. “Reactive maintenance is always more expensive and creates unplanned downtime.” He cites brake pads as an example. If they are regularly checked and replaced, not only will the vehicle brake efficiently and safely but the discs won’t become damaged. “Conversely if you let the pads wear too far, you are suddenly replacing 10 discs as well as pads,” he says. “Regular maintenance prevents damage.” The company is now using tyre pressure management systems. Over-inflated tyres affect braking performance, while under-inflated tyres use more fuel.

This session was recorded at The Health & Safety Event 2021 and features Chris Green - Partner, Keoghs

• 19% cut in cost of collisions.
• Incidents per 100,000 miles dropped from 2.8 (2019) to 1.7 (2022).

Auto Windscreens has 72 sites working across 24 geographical areas. Its technicians visit customers’ homes and workplaces to repair and replace vehicle glass, and an increasing proportion of work is conducted at the company’s own sites, primarily for ADAS calibration and more complex jobs. The business therefore has a large footprint across the UK. Its mobile technicians keep their LCVs at home, travel into their local centre for necessary supplies and conduct repairs at a variety of locations before returning home at the end of their shift. This brings the dual challenges of a remote fleet and a remote workforce. Although more than 40% of its work is now conducted at its service centres, the fleet has continued to expand due to increasing demand. The 50 company cars are primarily given as part of a recruitment package to senior managers, although some users have operational or sales roles.

In 2019, Auto Windscreens completed its roll-out of VisionTrack’s forward-facing cameras and telematics solution, through which it measures driver performance. All of the data for fleet management and driver performance is collated in a management information tool called Microsoft Power BI. This allows the team to see the entirety of a driver’s profile, including licence checks, points, infringements and ‘exception events’, making it easier to see patterns of behaviour or potential safety issues. High level reporting, or specific flags against drivers are passed to line managers for action. The company also runs driver league tables, by region, which captures the drivers’ combined scores. Shaun says this is a great incentive for the drivers to improve. The business focuses on coaching support and incentivising good behaviour with reward schemes. Line managers are encouraged to acknowledge good driving, and each year the best drivers are rewarded with shopping vouchers. “We demonstrate to the less skilled drivers how the winners achieve such good performance,” he says. “We want to inspire them to become better drivers rather than penalise them.” The cameras add great value to the telematics data because they give a complete context of the driving behaviour, which has shown up as ‘exception events’. “Harsh braking can be the result of poor anticipation, but it could also be a life-saving action,” he says. “Without the full context, you cannot always be sure whether you are viewing safe or poor driving.” The company tracks behaviours relative to their frequency and duration. Moderate speeding for a few seconds may be a simple over-taking manoeuvre, but sustained or significant speeding will be flagged for intervention. More than three similar instances within a specific timeframe will always trigger a conversation with the driver.

The camera footage and telematics data always form part of the new recruit inductions, so that new drivers understand how the systems work, and what information the managers will receive from it. “It is essential to educate people about your expectations and policies, but also about the technology you use,” says Shaun. “We can’t expect good performance without individual buy-in.” He includes both positive stories where drivers have been praised for their actions or exonerated from fault, as well as examples that have become opportunities to educate. Every initiative has been consultative, so that all staff understand the purpose, limits and potential benefits. The business has also worked hard to make fleet communication a key part of the operations. Line managers share messages with drivers as part of daily briefings. Every one-to-one appraisal and meeting includes a review of driving performance. “Embedding fleet safety into the organisation has been a big project but it is there now, and it’s something which is spoken about every day,” says Shaun.

Auto Windscreens operates an emergency out of hours service, however the number of night-time call-outs has shrunk considerably, as while customers can book work 24/7 through the service centre, most wait to book the next day. This eliminates the issues of night-time driver fatigue or broken sleep for its technicians.