Two Experienced Fleet Operators Share their Routes to Road Safety Management

A 10% cut in insurance premiums was just the start of the benefits

FM Conway saw from undertaking a thorough review of fleet safety, said IMS and Road Safety Manager Dave Conway, as he and logistics consultant John Anderson detailed their interventions and wins at the National Highways CV Safety Conference.

FM Conway accepted the challenge many years ago to see what could be done to prevent cycling deaths, which were too often caused by construction vehicles. It reviewed all its operations and actions, and set out a plan – including working through ISO 39001, a comprehensive management system for continuous improvement.

Dave Conway says that ISO 39001 does require some expertise and resource, so smaller operators may find more prescriptive standards easier to manage.

The accreditation required an all-points study of the driver, including qualification, competence and health; the vehicle, including its roadworthiness, suitability and how driver visibility could be improved; and place. Dave says that as 90% of collisions happen within one mile of the start or end of journeys, the company studied its access and exit points to improve their safety.

Routes were optimised, potential problems – such as dangerous junctions - identified and solved.

After an 18-month process, FM Conway achieved both FORS Gold and ISO 39001.

The benefits were substantial:

• £56,000 saving in insurance

• 15% reduction in repair and maintenance spend – despite a 5% cost increase for extra preventive maintenance

• Fuel efficiency rose by 3.8mpg

• A reduction in collisions despite doubling the fleet size

• Multiple awards

Dave’s key message to fleet operators is: “Keep improving. You cannot stand still.” Logistics consultant John Anderson’s advice to fleets is to prioritise and focus on the activities which will give the greatest results.

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John was formerly logistics director at Tarmac and has decades of experience. He ran a 2,000-strong fleet covering more than a million miles a week for seven years.

He broke his approach down into three components – prioritise, innovate and collaborate.

He encouraged operators to embrace technology, and to embrace the expertise third-party suppliers can offer.

“You don’t have to be an expert in everything yourself,” he says.

Anderson then broke the steps down further:

• Safe vehicle

• Safe driver

• Safe loading

• Safe journey

• Safe unloading

Each of these steps gives different opportunities for improvement, and for prioritisation, innovation and collaboration.

For instance, he says, vehicle driver assistance technologies, such as autonomous emergency braking systems and lane departure warnings “can be a really good investment”.

Anderson used Michelin Connected Fleet, which combines vehicle monitoring with Masternaut telematics and productivity analysis.

Anderson urges operators to use telematics to its full, especially its insights into driver behaviour, such as harsh acceleration, harsh braking and skidding. “Telematics is far more powerful than just showing where they are and where they are going,” he says.

By using trusted partners, such as a comprehensive tyre management supplier, compliance check companies or resource providers, such as Driving for Better Business, fleets can achieve more with less time.

“You can deliver through others,” he says, with greater efficiency than if you try to do it all in-house. And, as Dave Conway said of his company’s preventive maintenance company, sometimes paying more to do it correctly actually reduces overall cost.

“When you review the person, the asset, the location, and the behaviour, you start to get a comprehensive picture, allowing you to identify and resolve your risk,” Anderson says. “Manage your people, monitor performance, know your trends, and ensure you have a full risk profile. Then you can predict and prevent collision.”

By empowering our teams to think differently, equipping them with the time, skills, and encouragement to explore ideas and challenge the status quo, we create a catalyst for innovations that support our customers’ and our ambitions.

We believe in connecting people, places and communities through innovative and responsible infrastructure.