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Security integration specialist Scottish Communications Group (SCG) has cut thousands of pounds from its annual fuel bill following the introduction of Fleetmatics’ fleet and vehicle tracking technology. The firm, a leading supplier of integrated security systems including CCTV, access control and digital radio communications, installed the Fleetmatics system and has reaped the rewards of reduced overheads and improved customer service over the past three years.

Scottish Communications Group was seeking real-time insight into the movements of its 10 field-based engineers, who serve commercial customers throughout Scotland and as far afield as the South East of England.

Liam Mowat, technical director of Scottish Communications Group, said: “We primarily decided to use a tracking solution so we could identify and assign support call-outs to the nearest available engineer, due to the fact that we cover such a large geographic customer base. Response times are very important in upholding the level of service that our customers expect, and the system has enabled our service desk to respond even more quickly and efficiently.”

An additional benefit of the system has been a significant reduction in fuel costs, which adds up to thousands of pounds over the course of a full year. “By utilising the nearest available engineer and ensuring they follow the optimal route to a customer site, we have reduced travel costs, which has been very significant at a time when we are growing as a company,” said Mr Mowat.

Further efficiencies have been secured by using the timesheet feature and fuel card integration module to save on administrative time and accurately correlate costs. “The system has enabled us to determine exactly how much fuel has been used on a particular job, how much time was spent and how efficiently we are operating, all of which had to be figured out manually before,” added Mr Mowat. “There’s absolutely no question that the system has more than paid for itself and I would highly recommend it.”

From a health and safety perspective, Scottish Communications Group is also using the Fleetmatics system to confirm that legal speed limits are always adhered to. The company also has the ability to provide evidence in any case where a complaint is made about driver performance, although this is not an issue that the company has encountered to date.

Scottish Communications Group, founded in 1979, has built such a reputation for outstanding customer service that it was awarded the coveted Royal Warrant for the supply of communications equipment to Her Majesty the Queen. In addition. The company has achieved the highest industry standard, NACOSS Gold, as well as holding many other industry accreditations.

 

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Business motivations for running a green fleet can be many. Environmental ethics are laudable but the business case is clear and financial triggers can be equally compelling. Giles Margerison, Tom Tom Telematics’ Director UK & Ireland, explains how service companies can introduce an environmental strategy and considers its effect on day-to-day operations.

Environmental issues are being taken increasingly seriously by today’s world of business.

In some cases, sustainability has found its way onto service company agendas as a result of industry quotas and legislative demands, some firms simply want to become more environmentally-friendly from an ethical standpoint, others see it going hand-in-hand with business reputation and cost-savings.

Moral motivations may have taken a backseat during the recent economic downturn when, for many, business survival became the key objective. But as a leading motoring journalist recently pointed out – motives are not really the point, it’s the end result that counts.

 

Indeed those still to be convinced by moral arguments can ill-afford to ignore the fact that an environmental policy will invariably prove to also be a financially beneficial one – and this truth is particularly applicable for companies operating vehicle fleets.

In short, a green fleet policy means greater efficiency. This translates to lower fuel consumption, which in turn equals reduced costs and green house gas emissions. The business case for its introduction is therefore unequivocal.

The automotive industry is taking considerable strides to produce cleaner and greener vehicles, but slashing CO₂ emissions need not be dependent upon upgrading to fleet vehicles with superior mpg efficiency. Instead, by focusing on how vehicles are used, immediate green results can be delivered no matter the size, nature and make-up of a fleet.

Implementation of smart job allocation and scheduling is a perfect place to start, helping reduce overall mileage and carbon footprint. Dispatching the most appropriate mobile workers to jobs requires accurate management information. This will range from assessing the urgency and priority of jobs to the location of employees and traffic flow en route.

Advanced telematics systems, which combine tracking, navigation and live traffic information, enable managers to make key decisions by monitoring vehicle locations, movements and driver performance. Jobs can then be allocated to the most appropriate field operative based on who will arrive quickest. The optimal route may not necessarily be the shortest but will be the one which minimises fuel usage, idling and time spent on the road.

 

Historic road-use data can also be analysed to avoid wasted mileage, while drivers are able to avoid congestion by using live traffic information provided by navigation devices. Coupled with smart routing, factoring in not only congestion but also traffic lights, roundabouts and other obstacles, this can mean journey time savings of up to 15 per cent – and a marked reduction in emissions.

Green efficiencies through improved driving performance

The driver is the biggest factor in fuel savings accounting for around 30 per cent of the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a vehicle, and measurement of mpg underpins the potential savings in this area. Other crucial areas for measurement include vehicle idling, speeding and incidences of poor driving style, such as harsh steering or braking.

Telematics technology can draw upon all of this information, creating simple reports for organisations to profile individual drivers or entire fleets while empowering drivers themselves to improve by feeding performance data to them in real time, via in-vehicle terminals. And as research and development in this space continues apace, the performance areas that could be improved upon for greener, safer driving will develop, offering even greater opportunities for driver training and continual improvement.

 

Companies such as utilities giant Scotia Gas Networks (SGN) have demonstrated the fuel saving possibilities for this technology. SGN reduced incidences of negative driver behaviour (speeding, harsh steering, braking or acceleration) from 1,600 a day to less than 400 after implementing such technology across its 2,000+ vehicle fleet. The move resulted in an increase in average driver efficiency of 2.1 mpg.

For Zenith Hygiene Group, an incentivised scheme for the improvement of driver behaviour using TomTom Telematics’ technology saw its average vehicle mpg over the course of a year soar from 26 to 43. A study undertaken by global sustainability consultancy Environmental Resources Management (ERM), and commissioned by Vodafone, found that across its fleet this equated to almost 600 tonnes of CO2.

Such examples demonstrate how telematics data enables service companies to be fully accountable for their green policies, providing proof that requirements are being met. Moreover, managing mileage and driving behaviour not only protects the environment, it also protects drivers and companies’ all important bottom line.

 

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Smith Construction Group, a civil engineering and groundwork provider, has cut its yearly fuel bill by 15% after implementing a telematics system from Masternaut, one of Europe’s leading telematics provider.

The Group, which includes the skip hire arm Smith Recycling, has implemented telematics into its 60 strong fleet of heavy duty commercial vehicles, including tippers and skip lorries.

Masternaut’s technology has provided Smith Construction Group with detailed reports on every job done by a vehicle, detailing MPG readings, carbon emissions and idling.

This information has helped to reduce vehicle idling by 87%, whilst overall the technology has saved Smith Construction Group an estimated 15% off of its yearly fuel bill. Reducing carbon emissions and fuel is helping Smith Construction Group reduce its impact on the environment, in line with its sustainability ethos.

 

The technology has been used on a number of occasions in insurance claims from third parties, to prove that the vehicle in question was nowhere near the area for the alleged incidents.

The tracking technology has been beneficial in keeping customers up to date about when a vehicle will arrive, as well as providing Smith Construction Group with proof if a customer claims a driver hasn’t arrived. The technology has helped to improve vehicle utilisation by cutting down on wasted journeys (e.g. customers not on site to take delivery), through introducing a wasted journey charge backed up by telematics data.

At Smith Recycling, the recycling arm within Smith Construction Group, the system is used for communicating with customer’s to provide information on when a job can be done, using Masternaut data to see which driver can get to a job first. This has allowed Smith Recycling to ensure it meets customer timescales and helps guarantee fast delivery and pick up.

Smith Construction Group’s commented,"It’s important for us to have complete control over project schedules, so having the Masternaut system available has enabled us to give customer accurate details on arrival times for skip jobs, which has made a real difference. Not only can we give customers much more information on when a job can be done, but we’ve got the added security if there’s ever a dispute.”

 

He continued, “The system has helped us to make a saving on our annual fuel costs, which means that the system pays for itself through the savings we’re making. We’re working with Masternaut to see what else we can do with the technology and hope to implement the data into HR systems in the future."

Steve Towe, Chief Commercial Officer and UK Managing Director added: “In the construction industry, it’s especially important to keep tight control over project schedules, so being able to accurately predict arrival times for skip and tipper hire can make a real difference to operational efficiencies. Masternaut’s telematics system provides 100% accurate readings via patented CAN Bus technology rather than GPS-based readings, which gives Smith Construction Group access to reliable and accurate figures on mileage, fuel consumption and vitally gives them complete control over their fleet and project schedules.”

 

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A new industry body is aiming to improve standards across British business fleets by establishing best practice in the use of fleet data.

Fleet Data Insight brings together thought leaders from across the fleet industry, including both operators and suppliers, to share practical advice about using data to achieve operational excellence in fleet performance.

Founded by TomTom Telematics, alongside partners Zurich, the FTA and the Energy Saving Trust, Fleet Data Insight will meet twice a year, using the collective knowledge and experience of its participants to create a series of free best practice advice guides.

Each forum will be independently led by Real World Strategy and the guides will aim to provide practical information in a multimedia format. The community will also be invited to continue the discussion online via Twitter and the Fleet Data Insight LinkedIn discussion group.

The first forum meeting focused on using data to manage risk and brought together fleet professionals from a number of prominent organisations, including Skanska, Sainsbury's, Iron Mountain, Fife Council, BT Fleet, Waitrose.

"The core ethos of Fleet Data Insight is to co-create value and best practice for the industry, by the industry and to promote excellence in data-driven fleet management" said Peter Button, Chairman, Fleet Data Insight.

 

"A vast amount of data is now available to fleet managers, so it is essential they are provided with the right guidance and advice to enable them to get the most out of it," said Irvin Gray, Senior Marketing Manager, TomTom Telematics (founding partner). "We are confident that with the gold mine of experience and best practice our partners and contributors bring, we can give fleet operators the tools they need to become more efficient, safe and profitable."

"Identifying the right data and using it properly is essential in today’s fleet. The Fleet Data Insight group addresses this need in a new way – co-creating valuable best practice and sharing this with the industry through developing a community."

Operators are invited to join the conversation in the Fleet Data Insight LinkedIn discussion group. More information can be found at www.fleetdatainsight.com where you can apply to join the next event, join the community and download the best practice guide. The forum's first free guide on managing fleet risk together with some best practice videos from the forum are available now.

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Kwik Fit has achieved accreditation to the Freight Transport Association’s Van Excellence scheme after introducing a series of safe driving initiatives capped by the installation of telematics devices in its entire 200-strong fleet of mobile vans.

Following telematics implementation in the fleet six months ago, Kwik Fit has recorded an 8% saving on fuel bills as a result of technicians adopting a smoother and safer style of driving when at the wheel of the Mobile units.

Additionally, average fuel economy across the Mobile fleet has increased from 22mpg to 25mpg - a 13% improvement partly as a result of safer driving, but also due a reduction in vehicle idling, which is also monitored.

The saving builds on improvements made in the preceding two years when economy increased from 17mpg to 22mpg after Kwik Fit started to publish fuel consumption data on a van-by-van basis following introduction of ‘track and trace’ vehicle technology.

Introduction of the Telogis telematics technology has initially focused on using data recorded by the in-vehicle systems to influence driver behaviour and reduce fleet operating costs.

Kwik Fit fleet operations director Simon Lucas said: “We have witnessed a dramatic reduction in speeding, harsh braking and acceleration by technicians who have improved their driving style as a consequence of being monitored.

More than 100 fleets are now “accredited operators” to Van Excellence and Mr Lucas said: “It demonstrates clearly Kwik Fit’s commitment to duty of care and corporate responsibility and highlights that our fleet of Mobile vans is professionally managed.”

In congratulating Kwik Fit on its accreditation, Mark Cartwright, head of vans at the Freight Transport Association, said: “Van Excellence represents what good looks like in terms of van operations. We are delighted to recognise the excellent compliance standard demonstrated by Kwik Fit’s mobile service and have therefore awarded it Van Excellence accreditation.”

Kwik Fit is among a host of high-profile businesses that have gained Van Excellence accreditation for their fleets since the initiative was launched in 2010.

Van Excellence was created in order to promote high standards of van operation and driving by accrediting operators against an industry code of good practice. Operators register their interest and receive details of the Van Excellence Code, then present themselves for audit when they are ready.

 

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According to a Juniper Research report published in the latter half of 2014 in-vehicle apps are anticipated to reach almost 270 million within the next four five years. This increase, more than five fold on last year’s figures – is a clear indication that the hotly anticipated arrival of connected vehicles is here.

With smartphone major players Apple and Android both launched their vehicle specific version of their OS in the first quarter of last year, (CarPlay and AndroidAuto respectively) the report predicts uptake will be fairly rapid with report author commentating 

 

However, whilst in the consumer realm the usual suspects were sharing the headlines in the world of enterprise telematics there was one company that were storming ahead of the pack when it cames to integrating their technology into commercial vehicles. That company was Telogis.

Across the summer of last year Telogis were busy confirming and announcing a raft of key strategic partnerships including Hino Trucks, Volvo and Ford.

The Hino partnership resulted the HINO INSIGHT 2.0 which was developed as part of Hino’s ongoing strategy of building an offering that gives their customers a much improved total cost of ownership (TCO), including better vehicle uptime and user experiences and will be a standard fit on 2015MY Hino 195h and 195h-DC hybrid models, and as an option on the 195 and 195-DC models and the full conventional truck product line-up.

Indeed Telogis seemed to be on a mission to establish themselves as a part of the furniture in the road haulage industry, with the US based organisation now also bringing built-in compliance, telematics and navigation services to Volvo Trucks customers in North America.

Volvo customers are able to access Telogis’ services via smartphones and tablets, leveraging Volvo’s integrated connected vehicle hardware, standard on new Volvo-powered Volvo trucks.

In commercial trucking’s evolving legislative and regulatory landscape, Telogis’ offerings for Volvo Trucks help drivers and back office teams manage FMCSA compliance and keep drivers safer by delivering electronic log tools and routing information that is specifically designed commercial drivers.

“We’re pleased to collaborate with Telogis to deliver tremendous value to motor carriers seeking flexibility and the robust information needed to fine-tune their operations,” said Göran Nyberg, president, Volvo Trucks North American Sales & Marketing.

“Leveraging the connectivity of our vehicles to facilitate fleet management services represents a breakthrough for fleet managers, who are no longer captive to hardware. As part of our long-term strategic focus, we’ll look toward further integration of our vehicles with best-in-class fleet management solutions.”

 

And it is not just in the HGV arena that Telogis have been working, their agreement with Ford is related to their transit vans – the vehicle of choice for many a mobile worker.

Telogis are the exclusive technology provider behind Ford Crew Chief, the light-duty commercial telematics solution that comes factory-fit in Ford’s lineup of 2015 Transit vans as well as its complete line of commercial light-duty trucks.

As the agreement was announced Bill Frykman, manager, business and product development at Ford Motor Company commented

“Ford Crew Chief, another example of Transit’s smart features, complements the Transit line by helping customers save money through fuel management, and more effective route and work planning; keep their drivers safer by understanding and coaching driver behavior; and improving overall operations by getting a big-picture view of maintenance, location and productivity.” 

With many other manufacturers also implementing similar agreements to incorporate the latest technology into their vehicles in 2015 (Audi are including Android Auto whilst Mercedes and Volvo are committed to working with both Android Auto and CarPlay) it seems that the connected car is definitely on its way.

What may take a little longer but is continuing to develop along a steady path, is the driverless vehicle.

 

With Google having already demonstrated their prototype of a self-driving car which the technology giants described as ‘a vehicle without a steering wheel, gas or brake pedal - because they don’t need them’ the futuristic concept of robot cars is on it’s way.

While the current prototype can only go as fast as 25 mph, the promise for the future of fleet management could include better route and fuel efficiency, safer driving, and giving field service engineers the ability to answer email and work while on the road.

For urban fleets, the vehicle could even drop the field tech off at the service location, go find parking for itself and then be summoned to pick the tech up once the call is finished.

And to further speed up the development the University of Michigan is teaming up with top carmakers and tech companies to create the first closed test track in the United States for connected vehicle technology.

Dubbed "M City," the 32-acre testing facility is being built in Ann Arbor, Mich. to "test vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications in safe, realistic scenarios”

That's the first step in an ambitious plan by the university to "blanket all of Ann Arbor with a V2v and V2I network, including autonomous control,"

Whilst connecting the college town with enough infrastructure to allow self-driving cars to dominate the streets and roadways will take several years. The university and its partners are aiming to complete the transformation by 2021.

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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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Flowrite Services LTD, the UK’s leading National Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Company has implemented the very latest market leading technology, Optimatics from Aeromark, to schedule, manage and communicate with its 100 HVAC and Refrigeration engineers, Nationwide.

Flowrite was looking for a system that would help improve the management of their customer’s assets including catering refrigeration – Walk-in chillers & freezers, Cellar cooling, service cabinets, display refrigeration, ice machines and air conditioning equipment, and to optimise its service operation for planned and reactive maintenance. Aeromark offered a smarter mobile workforce technology to schedule engineers and as a result, not only has productivity in the field has improved by 20% but also as a result of better scheduling, mileage per job has reduced by 30%.

'Our previous system, which was based on email and digital pens completing job sheets, resulted in a considerable amount of lost time in the field as planning was very manual and communication was not always accurate resulting in not satisfying our customers’ critical data requirements. We needed a system that provided exceptional service, accurate data and real time information, to ensure reactive jobs are planned quickly and efficiently and reporting to our customer’s accurate data.’ Said Debbie Sarson-Lowe, Operations Director.

Optimatics provides Flowrite Services LTD with a solution for Asset Management, Workforce Scheduling, QR Code technology, integrated mobile workflows, vehicle tracking and Mobility Apps to connect engineers to the office.

‘This system provides all the information including site history to ensure the engineer has the right information every time; which results in greater efficiency, accurate parts ordering and better first-time fix rates; even the job sheets are created in real time and are emailed as the engineer leaves the job.’ said Debbie.

Since the deployment of the Aeromark Optimatics system, Flowrite’s planners have complete visibility of allocated and non-allocated tasks and are able to proactively manage jobs scheduled in real time.

Flowrite’s investment in Aeromark Optimatics solution has been essential to efficiency and service operations which enables the company to improve the service and data it presents to its customers.

Toshiba’s European retail and sales and service support division has increased fleet mpg by 27 per cent following an investment in TomTom Telematics’ WEBFLEET system.

Toshiba TEC Europe Retail Information Systems introduced the fleet management platform to improve employee safety by monitoring their driving behaviour and to compare the fuel performance of 25 new hybrid cars with its older fleet vehicles.

Vehicle and driving behaviour data is available for Toshiba managers in WEBFLEET. An OptiDrive indicator combines fuel efficiency information from the onboard ecoPLUS diagnostics device, with speeding, idling and braking data to score drivers out of 10 in a column stack chart. This can be used to benchmark drivers across their fleet.

“This has not only meant reduced fuel consumption but also means we can focus and report on CO2 reduction,” said Jonathan Barber, Retail Service Director, Toshiba TEC Europe Retail Information Systems.

“An overall 27 per cent increase in miles per gallon is a great result, which we hope to improve further with time.”

TomTom WEBFLEET has been integrated with Tesseract, Toshiba’s job scheduling software, enabling data to be sent, immediately and seamlessly, from the office to the transport teams in the field.

“This technology has proved to be second to none and instrumental in ensuring we provide the best possible service to our customers,” Barber added.