MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
GreenRoad™, the leader in driver performance management, today announced that KBC Logistics, a haulage firm based in Purfleet, Essex, is expanding its use of GreenRoad to its entire fleet. Since deploying GreenRoad in 20 HGVs in August 2012 with the support of its insurer, Towergate Underwriting, KBC Logistics has cut fuel consumption by 15% on top of savings of between £600 and £1,000 a month achieved by minimising idling.
In the first six weeks, KBC Logistics drivers’ risk dropped by 66 percent. Since then the risk has dropped further alongside a corresponding reduction in crashes and reduced vehicle wear and tear. KBC Logistics estimates that one month’s fuel savings alone will cover the annual cost of its GreenRoad subscription – a return of £12 for every £1 invested.
"With today’s tight budgets we would never have considered investing in a risk management system. But Towergate insisted we use GreenRoad and paid for its use in 20 lorries," said Dave Ashford, Transport & Compliance manager and KBC Logistics director. "Having seen the potential to save £50,000 to £100,000 a year, the firm is now happy to invest in GreenRoad across the fleet."
The GreenRoad idling feature is delivering fuel savings of between £600 and £1000 a month. GreenRoad-provided insight revealed that drivers were typically idling for 230 hours a month. By highlighting needless idling, such as when drivers are sitting in a lay-by with the engine running, KBC Logistics has cut this figure to less than 35 hours.
One of the keys to KBC Logistics’ success has been its focus on incentivising drivers with cash bonuses for the best 10 drivers each week. "Our team of drivers are pretty competitive and they want to prove they are good drivers so the incentive programme has been effective at changing behavior," said Ashford. "We are now understanding that it’s much less stressful being a green driver and yet our lorries are still arriving in good time. The GreenRoad dashboard LEDs reminds the drivers to stay green, keeping them safe and fuel-efficient."
GreenRoad enables Ashford to keep a close watch on driver speed awareness, particularly on national speed limit roads. He commented, "I use GreenRoad to analyse where the speeding occurs and its duration. I can then educate the driver in line with my responsibilities as an operator license holder. In one example a driver was achieving a 72mph downhill overrun on a 50mph limit road, which is wholly unacceptable. Without GreenRoad I would be totally unaware of the risks to the business. "
"I am a GreenRoad convert and on the few journeys when I have driven in fleet vehicles I have found that using the cruise control on the A12 set at 80kmh/50mph (the legal maximum) makes the drive less stressful. It is also significantly more cost-effective by cutting fuel usage and wear and tear," added Ashford.
KBC Logistics runs a fleet of 30 vehicles – all 44-tonne articulated trucks – handling container and fridge work for companies in Belgium and the UK.
