News
Investment in “Greater Than” IT for safer, greener, smoother deliveries
With a fleet of more than 80 vehicles across four depots and with fuel prices ever on the increase, Welch’s Transport took the decision in 2010 to invest in telematics to provide detailed feedback on driver habits and their effects on vehicle efficiency.
After considering a number of options, it was decided that the web-based system offered by Greater Than, a Scandinavian company, would best suit our needs and objectives.
The black box technology has been installed in every vehicle at our Henlow depot as a pilot scheme and measures such things as:
- Braking habits
- Acceleration
- Use of gears
- Use of engine revs
- How the driver approaches and exits roundabouts and junctions
The data from each vehicle is fed, via GPS technology, into software held on our server and is compared to a Europe-wide database of the same vehicles operating in the same haulage environments to highlight potential areas of improvement.
Welch’s in-house Driver Trainer, Ted Baldry, is responsible for analysing the data on a daily basis. His objective is to coach the driver complement, against set targets, on how to improve their “lean” driving techniques to achieve higher driving standards with a consequential improvement in fuel consumption and a reduction of wear and tear on maintenance items.
The chart below shows the lean driving trend of the Henlow depot’s fleet with the improvements represented by the smaller bars.
In the last 3 months, average fuel consumption at Henlow, across the varied fleet of vehicles, has improved from 10.2 mpg, reaching the first target of 11.2mpg which represents an improvement of 9.8%.
Apart from the obvious savings in fuel costs there are other important benefits of each vehicle being driven in a more defensive, smoother, safer manner:
- Reduced risk to customers’ freight
- Reduced accident risk
- Significantly reduced carbon footprint
- The ability to maintain more competitive rates for Welch’s customers
Given the success of the pilot scheme at Henlow, it is to be introduced at our Stapleford depot in the very near future.
For further information on how Welch’s Transport can provide you with a professional, quality service, please use the “Sales Enquiry” form or call Mike Bentham on 07970 458159.