The firm has employed the system for the fleets within its catering, security service & maintenance companies, with the resultant data used by the group’s managers to determine choice areas for improvement, such as regulating speed and ensuring road safety.
Danny Alborough, deputy group facilities manager, explained: ‘We use the Speeding Reports to reduce speeding on motorways and in towns. The data provided by the Quartix system helped us bring our average top speeds down by 17%.’
As such, accident rates from the previous year decreased from 35 to 15.
‘This has been hugely beneficial for us with regards to our drivers’ road safety, which we deem to be very important,’ added Alborough. ‘We were keen to inspire safer driving with the aid of telematics and the Quartix system allows us to do that. As a result, our drivers are now much more careful on the road.’
The system’s reports on utilisation and idling times let the group keep tabs on vehicle movement and fuel usage. In addition, to allay vehicle theft and keep fleets secure, fleet managers can be notified of any signs of irregular activity using Geofencing alerts. Meanwhile, certain departments within Gratte Brothers make use of engineer time sheets to know the duration of on-site visits and travelling times in order to better communicate with customers.
Initially, drivers were wary of vehicle tracking as a way to improve road performance, mainly citing the system as invasive to their work routines, but after Alborough toured round the country explaining what the firm hoped to achieve with the tracking, the drivers became more receptive.
Alborough added: ‘The service from Quartix has exceeded our expectations. Queries are dealt with the same day and the staff are all friendly, reliable and very experienced. The system ticks all of our boxes and we use it every day in our service departments.’
‘Overall, the online application is very easy to use and the daily reports emailed to us are second to none. Quartix tracking plays a very important role in our day-to-day management – it has become a vital tool for us to run the fleet effectively!’
