CASE STUDY: How do you maintain driver, motorist and pedestrian safety across a disparate fleet of hundreds of vehicles spanning every corner of the UK? For Altrad Services UK, operators of a 1,400 strong fleet, this was a problem they were committed to solving. By partnering with Trakm8, a leading telematics data specialist, Altrad drastically improved driver behaviour, slashed incident rates and almost halved costs from fines and repairs.
Altrad Services UK is the UK’s leading provider of industrial services to the oil and gas, energy and petrochemical sectors.
Operating across high-risk sectors, Altrad has a deep-seated commitment to safety and relentlessly pursues areas where it can improve. A key area identified for improvement was driver safety.
Altrad set out to create a company-wide drive to bear down upon unsafe driving. After examining many of the fleet safety solutions on the market, Altrad turned to Trakm8, the recognised leader in telematics data, to help them improve safety across their fleet. Using Trakm8 technology, safety dramatically improved:
- Driver behaviour, measured by Trakm8’s 0-100% traffic light system, went from 62% in 2016 to 93% in 2019
- Incident numbers down from an annualised rate of 32% in 2016 to 12.5% in 2019
- Spending on fines and vehicle repairs down 40%
These significant improvements were made possible by the intelligent and nuanced insights provided by Trakm8 technology.
Trakm8’s tracking device was installed in all of Altrad’s 1,460 vehicles, immediately giving Altrad’s fleet managers access to valuable data allowing them to introduce a company-wide initiative to combat poor driving and spread best practice throughout the fleet.
Matthew Hammond, Head of Fleet, Plant and Equipment at Altrad Services, explains: “By partnering with Trakm8 we have been able to bear down on incidents in a way that is at once incredibly effective in reducing incidents and has a positive impact on our fleet workforce.
“What is unique about Trakm8’s product is its data insights for fleet managers coupled with its friendliness for our entire driving team.
“While fleet managers have access to a powerful tool, it’s also incredibly easy to get data out of the system and use it in our own comprehensive driver support schemes. And drivers are presented with easy to understand statistics that incentivise best practices, with an app they can download to track their score.
“The data allows us to engage with drivers in a positive way as we can now better understand when an incident is an opportunity for driver training or simply a driver utilising their best judgement in a high-risk situation, and then involve the driver in the solution, instead of making them the problem.”
Unlike Altrad, who turned towards a comprehensive solution, some fleets settle for a number of low-tech and data-poor options.
Fleet-wide E-learning or one-to-one training and assessment can be provided and even made mandatory, but drivers can feel put out when they’re forced to take tests in their spare time and may feel uncomfortable being examined.
In an attempt to improve this situation, many try to use the data they have to hand to target ‘poor drivers’.
Often forced to create and manage their own spreadsheet-based solution, this creates a time-intensive new task and can often mistakenly target good drivers because of a system that doesn’t consider environmental factors.
Data points like incident frequency and numbers of fines are useful in the aggregate (every solution needs to be able to decrease incident frequency), but in most circumstances this data shouldn’t be used to target poor drivers.
Trakm8’s solution leaps these hurdles with a comprehensive alternative providing powerful and insightful data to fleet managers, in a way that is user friendly and isn’t invasive for drivers.
Altrad’s company-wide driver safety initiative uses Trakm8 technology to perform driver risk assessments using its intelligent 0-100% scale.
The level of data provided allows Altrad to intervene when required, by providing tailored E-learning courses demonstrating best practice based around where an individual driver is weakest, then following up with one-to-one driver training and a classroom course.
From the outset of this process, one of Altrad’s goals was to fully understand incidents when they occurred so that drivers were never unnecessarily penalised.
Where a driver is involved in an accident, the circumstances surrounding the event are examined to their fullest extent, including driving conditions, driving time, and previous driver data.
This info was then coupled with Trakm8 telematics data to create a comprehensive picture of the incident, allowing Altrad to understand whether there were signs in driving style leading up to the event that could have led to the incident.
Going further, when the Trakm8 system identifies an incident of poor driving style, this is saved to a route map allowing Altrad to investigate the incident’s causes.
Often, poor driver behaviour when investigated is actually a sign that the driver used their best judgement and reacted quickly in a dangerous situation.
“One of Altrad’s goals was to fully understand incidents when they occurred so that drivers were never unnecessarily penalised”
By using Trakm8 telematics, Altrad can now learn from these incidents and circulate hazards on route to drivers to further increase safety.
Matthew continues: “Trakm8 worked with us closely to find the right solution for our needs, and were there every step of the way through the installation process and in training our fleet managers to use its portal.
“While the Trakm8 system has allowed us to reduce costs from incidents, its real value-add is immeasurable: when motorists interact with our fleet on the road, they are now significantly more likely to come away with a positive interaction where our driver drove safely.
“As a result of the significant improvements we’ve made using the Trakm8 system, we’re seriously examining where else we can integrate Trakm8 technology into our fleet to allow us to deliver a better service to our customer base.”
About Trakm8
Trakm8 is a recognised leader in technology solutions for fleet management, insurance telematics, optimisation and vehicle camera systems.
Trakm8’s cutting edge technology offerings are adaptable for fleets of all sizes; providing intelligent, game-changing insights that can improve fleet efficiency and reduce risk across fleet operations.
