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Teesdale Renewables, a fast-growing provider of renewable energy services to homes and businesses in the North East of England, has reported an improvement in its customer service capabilities following the introduction of Fleetmatics’ mobile workforce solution known as Fleetmatics REVEAL™.

The system has been installed throughout the company’s fleet of six vehicles to ensure that the location of engineers can be pinpointed in real-time via the Live Map functionality. This has assisted with efficient scheduling of customer visits and faster response times when emergency call-outs are received.

 

Kevin Maughan, Media & Marketing Manager at Teesdale Renewables, said: “We use the Live Map feature all the time. It’s invaluable to us. In cases where there’s an emergency, we know immediately which engineer is nearest and send him or her to the job. This means they get to the customer much faster than they would if we were still having to manually check the location of each engineer. In addition, the system helps the engineer takes the fastest route to a job, which not only improves our service but saves fuel and time.

 

“As a company, we are dedicated to energy efficiency so it’s important we adhere to these principles in the way we operate.”

Teesdale Renewables, based in Barnard Castle, County Durham, specialises in biomass fuel installations but also offers conventional heating, plumbing and electrical services via its AG Bainbridge and CMJ Electrical divisions. The company has been using the Fleetmatics system since September, when the decision was made to invest in a fleet management solution for a number of reasons. One of these was security, with the management keen to ensure staff were not using their vehicles after designated working hours. Additionally, there was a desire to improve route optimisation and emergency response times.

“The engineers have embraced the technology very well,” said Kevin. “It is fair to expect a little resistance to this change in working practices but we were pleasantly surprised by how well it has been taken on board by the staff.”

 

One unexpected benefit of the system arose when it helped to resolve a dispute over driver behaviour. The company received a call complaining that one of its drivers had been driving excessively quickly when overtaking an elderly driver, but on closer inspection of the vehicle data, the company was able to demonstrate that its driver had not exceeded the speed limit. In fact, it was the unusually low speed of the other vehicle that gave the incorrect impression that the van was travelling very fast.

 

Having made an immediate impact in its first few weeks, the importance of the Fleetmatics system is likely to grow as Teesdale Renewables continues to expand.

“The demand for biomass fuel in this area has been massive,” said Kevin. “The price of fossil fuels keeps going up and people are recognising the long-term benefits of a more efficient and sustainable option. We are expecting to grow our workforce in 2015 and the Fleetmatics system will be very helpful in managing that team efficiently and effectively so that our customers receive the best possible levels of service.”

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