The North East Autism Society is fitting in-vehicle driver behaviour technology from Lightfoot to its fleet as it looks to enhance driver behaviour and improve safety.
The registered charity operates a fleet of more than 60 vehicles, typically Vauxhall Vivaro minibuses and Ford C-Max MPVs, to transport children and adults with autism, and has some 270 people driving for it.
The majority of vehicles are provided by Activa Contracts on contract hire with full maintenance agreements and operated on four-year/100,000-mile replacement cycles. Activa also provides a handful of short-term hire vehicles and undertakes drive licence validation on behalf of the society.
Following recommendation by Activa Contracts – which offers Lightfoot technology as part a suite of vehicle and driver risk management solutions – the organisation is to equip all its vehicles with the Lightfoot technology, which is seen as a key tool by Activa Contracts to not only help fleet managers meet occupational road risk management obligations, but to cut overall operating costs.
An initial 10-vehicle pilot saw the society record fuel savings of 8.6% – equivalent to around £15,000 a year.
Lisa Murphy, the society’s governance support manager, who is in charge of the fleet, said: “Lightfoot technology is being introduced for multiple reasons but all linked to safety and encouraging people to adopt a smoother style of driving when behind the wheel.
“Reducing insurance premium as a consequence of fitting the technology across the fleet, limiting vehicle wear and tear on components, and also delivering fuel savings as a result of smoother driving will cut fleet costs with the savings ploughed into the running of frontline services.”
