David Lang has seen his fleet responsibilities evolve over the past 20 years from an operational role to one with an increasing emphasis on technological advances and cost.

He has also needed to stay ahead of the game on safety and, more recently the environment, driven by legislation and Babcock’s own commitments in these areas.

“You have to keep pace with all of these developments,” Lang says. “They are all part of the total fleet management package.”

Babcock Rail’s road transport manager has taken on greater responsibility within Babcock International in recent years, adding management of some of the group’s other divisions, including infrastructure, engineering, naval and airport services.

Another divisional fleet, networks, is managed by a dedicated fleet manager, Roger Wakefield, who works closely with Lang on the letting of major contracts, including contract/spot hire and fuel.

“There had been a lack of a dedicated core fleet role elsewhere in the business because it was not set up as a core service,” Lang says. “This left the company vulnerable with certain Duty of Care issues, such as licence checks which were not consistent.”

A common fleet policy across all of Babcock’s divisions is still some way off, but best practice is being developed. That’s helped by the fact that each division sits on the same fleet management system – Chevin’s Fleetwave.

Lang is pulling together a report on a year-long telematics trial with 200 vans looking at the impact on fuel savings, mileage reduction and speeding incidents – all of which have improved.

This will be presented to the Board with a recommendation to put telematics into the entire van fleet and, eventually, into the cars as well.

“Speeding has reduced by 40-50%, the proportion of incidents is down to 10% and the length of the periods of speeding has reduced as well,” says Lang.

“It will be a big upfront cost to install telematics across the fleet but it will be self-financing from the fuel savings, especially by reducing idling times. That’s how we will sell it to the Board.”

Further buy-in from the board and drivers will also come from focusing on the safety angle. The core business of rail inevitably makes Babcock highly safety conscious – its policy is ‘home safe everyday’ with a target of zero accidents.

“We had to get the unions on board before we introduced the tracker system and we sold it on improving safety for their members,” says Lang. “Their concern was ‘big brother’ and time sheet conciliation, but that’s not why we are doing it.

“Tracking is a safety tool that has financial benefits for the company – reducing the fuel bill pays for having a safer workforce. Complementing the telematics pilot is a driver assessment programme introduced a year ago using ROSPA profiling. All 1,500 drivers have been profiled and it has seen accident incidents fall by around 15%.

“We are now looking at profiling our 200 grey fleet drivers and extending the programme to include spouses who are authorised to drive cars,” Lang says.

“It is imperative to treat all drivers the same – company and grey. The next stage is to align our cash for car policy with our company car policy.”

Babcock’s company car replacement policy is four years maximum, with cars changed for greener models. Cash for car drivers can keep their vehicle for up to five years and, with a few restrictions such as two-door models and soft-tops, they can choose any car they want.

“That affects our carbon footprint so we have to look at that alignment,” Lang adds.

Changes will coincide with a revision of the car policy which will broaden the marques available to company drivers. Currently they are restricted to five volume and mid market brands; Lang wants to add some premium makes, attracted by their investment in reducing CO2 emissions.

“It will help individuals with the P11D linked to emissions by having more premium brands on the list,” he says. “It will also help us to get a better balance between finance and HR needs.”

He adds: “You have to supply the best cars at the best price and take green issues into account.”

That objective is being made easier by bringing the various Babcock divisions together to pool buying power with manufacturers, contract hire rates and rental rates.

The company splits its fleet between contract hire, using Lex and ING but currently out to tender, and long-term hire.

“Because our business changes a lot, it is important to have a facility where we have a number of vehicles that can go back at short notice,” Lang says.

“We have agreed rates that make it very competitive compared to contract hire and our rates are fixed for the next two years so we can fend off any increases. We also have special vehicles that are cheaper to rent than contract hire, such as washrooms and toilets.”

He uses Northgate, TLS, Arnold Clark and Reflex for hire purposes, typically from one month to three years, plus some spot hire for day or weekend rental.

The contract hire tender will be concluded by the end of the year. Lang expects to appoint two companies to ensure he continues to get competitive rates.

“We will get the same level of support from both but competitiveness tends to vary during the year as does availability,” he says.

“We’ve been through a lot of changes and we’ve introduced a lot of initiatives over the past 18 months because of the growing emphasis on financial controls, safety and the environment,” Lang adds. “It shows the Board’s commitment to fleet.”

Babcock International Group has five key divisions. The largest, in fleet terms, is Babcock Rail which has 850 core vehicles (of which 80% are LCVs) and 80 short term hire.

David Lang has managed the Rail fleet for the past 23 years. Four years ago his forst foray into the rest of Babcock was into the Infrastructure division and he now controls its fleet of 600 vehicles.

Lang is also responsible for Engineering Services, which is mainly a short-term hire fleet.
And he got involved with the Airport operation when it renewed its fleet of baggage handling vehicles at Heathrow. Lang switched the fleet to 56 LPG Mercedes Sprinters.

“BA wanted to be green by going for electric vehicles but the logistics and mileage requirements would need twice as many vehicles in order to have some charging,” he says. “So we went for the Sprinters with stop-start.”

The only part of Babcock International Group that Lang does not have fleet responsibility is Defence. That could follow, however, as he starts to create a group-wide fleet policy.

Lang’s fleet responsibilities are not just UK-based – he also oversees vehicles in Europe. The overseas part of Babcock’s business is expected to be the fastest growing next year.
The fleet currently stands at 550 vehicles but is expanding on the back of business wins. Lang controls procurement, maintenance and disposal while a fleet manager handles driver issues.

Babcock Rail

Road transport manager: David Lang
Fleet spend: £12 million a year
No of vehicles: 850 (Lang has responsibility for 1,450 in total with the other Babcock divisions, plus 100 spot hire vehicles and 200 grey fleet drivers)
Replacement cycle: four years maximum
Funding method: 50/50 split between contract hire (Lex, ING) and rental
Badge policy: Ford, Vauxhall, Renault, Peugeot, Honda