Following a trip to the Scania factory in Sweden last year, transport manager Charlie Hartwell (pictured) arranged a trial of the manufacturer’s Control and Tacho Download packages on four vehicles from his 50-strong, all-Scania fleet.
He says setting it up was so easy “it was like turning on a tap”, adding: “Now, we have everything in one place. We’re also now able to produce reports individually on drivers, topics and vehicle, so even when drivers are in and out of different cabs, we can track their driving styles.
“It’s helpful as individual elements can be identified and improvements can be made. It gives us levels of details that we’ve never had before.”
The Evesham-based operator also decided to implement driver training to maximise the benefits. All managers and 95% of the full-time drivers have now completed the Scania driver training programme.
Vehicles are now regularly achieving 9.5mpg, a 12% improvement on a year ago, and the trucks have suffered less wear and tear.
“We’ve seen the benefits of the training and we’d do it again,” concludes Hartwell.
“To put it into perspective, one driver can use £120 worth of fuel a week just idling – multiply that by a fleet of 50 and it soon adds up.
“Educating our drivers about the new vehicles that they’re driving, and how far they’ve come technologically, means that they get more out of them and we can make considerable cost savings.”