Andrew Saunders, fleet manager, McGinley

Why did you trial telematics? McGinley tenders to supply specialist workers for major infrastructure projects nationwide. Many of our clients want evidence that we’ve got telematics in place to ensure our workers’ safety. We also trialled the telematics to monitor drivers’ speed among other things.

How did you get approval from senior managers? We presented it to our board of directors and they were keen to get it in place for duty of care purposes as well as forming part of the tendering process.

How did you decide which supplier to trial? We went to market at the tail end of last year and spoke to a few suppliers. We decided on FMG’s Ingenium Dynamics telemetry system as FMG was the most willing to help us run our trial.

Which vehicles did you trial it in? We trialled it across 30 vans, including Ford Transits, Ford Tippers, Volkswagen Caddys, Peugeot Partners and Mercedes-Benz Vitos.

What type of journeys are the vehicles used for? We have depots in 10 geographical areas and some of the vehicles are based there while others are based at employees’ own homes. There’s a lot of motorway driving, although the vehicles are also used on country lanes.

How long was the trial? Eight weeks.

What results did you see? There was a 33% reduction in speeding. I was able to ring any driver who exceeded the speed limit to ask them why it had happened. Telematics was also an ideal way of keeping an eye on lone workers or those who were potentially at risk.

What challenges did you face? Initially, there were issues surrounding acceptance from colleagues. But over the past few weeks, there has been far greater acceptance and many now realise that it provides them with peace of mind if they’re working on their own.

What are you doing as a result of the trial?  We’ve just committed to installing telematics across the whole of our fleet of 350 vans and cars by September 1 this year.

What telematics advice do you have for other fleet managers? There’s everything to win and nothing to lose from trialling it. But talk to a few different suppliers in the first instance and find out which ones actively want to help you run a trial to see if it’s right for you.