“We investigated bunkered fuel for two years. It’s easier to go with that solution when you know what routes you will drive, but we travel all around the UK and we need the flexibility of having availability so it doesn’t work for us,” she says.
Promoting the use of cheaper supermarket fuel through communication campaigns has been a key initiative, and has seen the proportion of drivers using more expensive forecourts reduce from 19% to 9%.
A few pence per litre savings have significant consequences for a fleet travelling more than 30 million miles a year.
“You’re reliant on people when it comes to this. When you get through to them and their thinking, that helps drive performance,” says Karolyi.
Drivers complete online risk assessments every two years and the high-risk drivers are put forward for training.
A two-day road awareness course is also available for drivers that are identified as very high risk and those who have been caught speeding, caused accidents or damaged their vehicle.
“Some people take offence to driver training; they think they are being challenged,” says Karolyi. “We are not saying their driving is bad. It’s making people understand that it is for duty of care.”
The apprentice programme has a tailored training programme for younger drivers. Delegates undergo a 12-week classroom-based course which includes the risk assessment, in-cab driver training and e-learning.
If the feedback from the instructor is that they think they need more, they are put on a two-day practical driving course.
Accident costs are charged back to the individual cost centres, while third-time offenders have the associated costs recharged to them.
“For the size of the fleet, the number of re-offenders is not high. We understand everyone makes mistakes. The second time they offend we will look at training, while third-time offenders will have the costs recharged. I think that is fair,” says Karolyi.
To help reduce downtime, 12 older vans are used as pool vehicles and placed in various sites around the UK. As a result, instead of hiring an empty van, business units are allocated a fully racked and fit-for-purpose van. Fleet utilisation for 2012 was an impressive 98%.
Login to comment
Comments
No comments have been made yet.