9 Secrets to Reducing your Fleet Expenses
As a fleet owner, your day-to-day costs can quickly add up. What you don’t know is there are further hidden, expensive...
Read moreFor the past eight years, HBBA Care has provided person-centred care to vulnerable people in the community, working with Local Authorities and NHS Trusts, as well as private individuals.
The company specialises in supported living, working with young adults and the elderly by providing homecare services, live-in care and overnight support.
Based in the West Midlands, HBBA’s team relies on five vehicles to transport carers between shifts throughout the region.
The challenge
When offering such a vital service to the community, efficiency and productivity cannot be compromised. HBBA’s management team need the utmost confidence that budgets are spent wisely, resources are not misused and waste is kept to a minimum.
Unfortunately, without a fleet management solution in place, the Registered Manager, Hilda Johani, struggled to accurately monitor mileage, fuel spend and consumption and inefficient behaviours such as idling. At the same time, Hilda’s team wanted a way to optimise routes and reduce unnecessary mileage.
Safety and security were other key factors behind the search for a fleet management solution. With just five vehicles on the road, any downtime could be devastating for HBBA and its clients. So, the company was in search of greater visibility into fleet location as well as a way to monitor unsafe or reckless driving styles and train staff on safe, defensive techniques.
Finally, with plans to expand its service into Northern Ireland in the near future and at least four more vehicles joining its fleet in the latter half of 2023, HBBA wanted a centralised solution to help office staff stay in control of its disparate and growing mobile workforce.
The solution
After a short search of the market, HBBA quickly opted for the Verizon Connect solution due to its ability to alleviate the company’s most pressing challenges – efficiency, safety and control.
The Reveal solution’s comprehensive online tracking system would allow Hilda and her team to view fleet activity in near real-time and get peace of mind that vehicles are being used as they should be.
The element of having no control over our fleet has been alleviated by Verizon Connect.
Hilda also felt that greater insight into driver behaviour, coupled with live training and the route replay function, could help coach her drivers into safe and more efficient habits behind the wheel.
A central, intuitive dashboard and accurate automatic reporting would also help HBBA stay in control and reduce time-consuming processes during its fleet expansion across the UK.
The result
To sum up the benefits of the Verizon Connect solution in a few words… Control! Control! Control!
Since implementing the Verizon Connect solution, Hilda has seen a transformational improvement in the level of control she has over her fleet.
With greater visibility into vehicle location and driver behaviour, her team can quickly spot and act on areas of inefficiency and ill-discipline. And, as staff are aware that their mileage, fuel consumption and driving techniques are being monitored, inefficiency, waste and reckless driving have all decreased.
We can now view vehicle activity in real-time. We know how people drive and are able to provide training where needed, using the outcomes the system provides.
Safety and security have seen a marked improvement, too. Not only are drivers more cautious when out on the road, but HBBA’s office staff now have confidence that vehicles are where they should be, and that any suspicious movement can be closely monitored.
Having experienced vehicle robberies in the past, we feel more secure using Verizon Connect to track our vehicles.
Closer vehicle monitoring has also helped to reduce fuel spend. Hilda reports that drivers take fewer detours and that idle times have significantly reduced.
Drivers are now able to complete daily routes without time wasting, resulting in a 100% call cycle improvement.
Linking purchases with actual consumption through fuel card integration has also reduced instances of fraud. As a result of these efficiencies, Hilda estimates that Verizon Connect has helped HBBA to halve its fuel consumption.
The greatest measurable benefit is on fuel consumption, which has been reduced by nearly 50%.
As HBBA continues to grow its fleet operation, Hilda is keen to integrate more Verizon Connect solutions across its vehicles to reap further efficiency, productivity and safety benefits.
Thank you very much for this comprehensive tool which has brought order into our fleet management framework.
