Telematics supplier Greenroad last year saw a 15% increase in the number of professional drivers achieving 'Fleet Elite' status: more than 11% of its professional driver base.

The company says it is estimated that one in five fleet vehicles are involved in a collision each year. These crashes can result in anywhere from £11,100 to £347,000 of costs per incident. Additionally these same crashes can cost on average 12 days of lost work from the employee involved in the incident. 

Greenroad created its Fleet Elite programme to motivate drivers and help fleet managers and owners reward safe driving practices.

The Fleet Elite status is awarded to drivers who maintain a Greenroad Safety score of five or less while logging more than 500 Greenroad driving hours during the calendar year.

Drivers can earn bronze, silver or gold Fleet Elite status in recognition of one, two, three or more consecutive years of consistent, safe and efficient driving behaviour.

Drivers with a score of five or below who earned Fleet Elite status, indicate an average of just five risky manoeuvres per 10 hours driving (or less than one event in an hour of driving).

“Again, this year, organisations worldwide recognised the importance of Fleet Elite," said Dougie Portwood, director of strategic programme panagement.

"Greenroad drivers promote their Fleet Elite Status with pride and work hard to maintain their eligibility for Fleet Elite membership every year.

“Fleet and safety managers agree that the Fleet Elite programme has a huge positive impact on driver safety, performance and overall organisational culture.”

Rory Morgan, head of logistics support for Western Europe at Iron Mountain, said: “We are immensely proud of our drivers who have once again endorsed their growing reputation as being some of the safest performing drivers on our roads.

"This year 61% of our total driver population achieved Fleet Elite status with 25% reaching the prestigious Fleet Elite gold.

"Together with the Brake Fleet Safety Awards we acquired in 2015 with Greenroad, this represents the culture of safety within Iron Mountain that Greenroad helps to promote."