The process is monitored by the telematics systems which have been installed in every Stannah vehicle – cars and vans – since 2009.

It was sold as a top-down approach and even the directors’ cars are included.

Nevertheless there were some dissenting voices which encouraged the operations team to explain how Stannah was not acting as Big Brother.

Ultimately, this wasn’t the case.

“Once you’ve done it you can go back and say it has helped us to make savings,” Carter says.

Fuel use has reduced by 13% since telematics was installed, despite a 3% rise in the size of the fleet.

Furthermore, the fleet’s CO2 emissions average has fallen to 120g/km over that time with a large proportion of vehicles at or below 100g/km.

Telematics is playing an important role on the fleet. It’s also contributed to maintenance savings and reducing accident frequency.

“Lots of people look for one action and one consequence but as you push the boundaries this is not possible in fleet – you have to take a holistic approach,” Carter says.

“You make step changes through standardisation; then you are into continuous improvement. It’s about small changes but you can’t underestimate the sum of all those changes.

"As they become mature, incremental fine tuning becomes the only string in your bow. But the consequences can be very significant.”

Incident record cuts tyre abuse

Many fleets struggle to manage tyre wear which results in a high

Proportion of tyres replaced when the tread is already below the legal limit.

Stannah has addressed this common issue by making tyres part of its driver behaviour system.

An awareness campaign that focused on checks and the importance of getting tyres changed helped to reduce the risk, but it wasn’t until Martin Carter introduced an incident record that the number of cases really fell.

“If an illegal tyre does appear it gets dropped into the system for driver behaviour. We don’t have any severe cases now,” Carter says.

“We also introduced KPIs on the number of illegals at our monthly team briefs and those are cascaded through the whole organisation.”

To further support the new policy, Stannah increased the tolerance at which tyres can be replaced from 2mm to 3mm.

Consequently, the number of tyres changed with an illegal tread depth has fallen by four-fifths, almost eradicating the problem.

'Remedial actions apply to fleets'

Martin Carter has worked for Stannah since 1981.

His first job with the company was in production planning on the shop floor.

Over 30 years he has worked up to director of operations. His background in quality control and business systems are skills which were transferable to fleet when he became responsible for the operation in 2005.

“Quality, remedial actions and corrective actions can apply to fleet and there’s also a big drive with technology,” he says.

Carter spends 1.5 days a week on fleet business, supported by a team of three who are responsible for admin. The rest of his time is shared between IT, properties and health and safety.

“I am self-taught; my knowledge has come through experience which suits my learning style,” he says.

“All the information you need is available through suppliers, publications and research.”

Factfile

Operations director Martin Carter
Fleet size 615 vehicles – 369 vans; 246 cars
Replacement cycle five years/120,000 miles
Annual mileage 13 million
Average CO2 120g/km
Funding method outright purchase
SMR provider ARI Fleet UK
Brands vans – Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen; cars – mixed range