One thing we love doing here at Telematics.com is pointing out some of the companies around the UK and elsewhere in the world that have really benefited from taking on telematics solutions. One such company is Smith Construction Group, which thanks to a partnership with Mastedrnaut Telematics, has managed to cut its annual fuel costs by as much as 15 per cent, netting it huge savings in the long run.
This 15 per cent fuel efficiency improvement has been realised in the firm’s 60 vehicles, which are also part of the Smith Recycling business. Since they are almost all heavy-duty commercial vehicles, that 15 per cent goes a long way.
According to statistics from Masternaut (via Fleetnews) much of the fuel savings came from a reduction in vehicle idling, which has been cut down by 87 per cent. Similarly so, improvements to driver behaviour and vehicle handling have also helped reduce the amount of fuel being used, as well as cutting back on vehicle wear and tear.
However the improvements for Smith Construction Group haven’t just been with regards to fuel savings, the telematics hardware has also helped it offer a better service to customers, by giving them up to date information on where vehicles are at all times. It also gives the company excellent evidence should a customer claim that a driver never arrived. Either they can prove that they did, exonerating the driver in question, or they can see that indeed they didn’t arrive when they said they had and Smith can then look into why that might have happened.
And in the cases that a customer isn’t there to receive a driver, there’s evidence for that too, which has allowed Smith to put an end to wasted journeys, by adding a charge to customer bills if that takes place.
“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,” said Smith Construction Group’s Paul Usher. “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.”
His statement was backed up by Steve Towe, CCO of Smith, who said that in the business they were in, it was paramount to be on time and keep a tight watch of how projects are progressing. With telematics in place, Smith was able to accurately predict arrival times of workers and therefore could not only offer a better service to customers, but could better provision for other jobs and see whether more men or time need to be invested in any particular piece of work.
“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,” he said.
