Loreburn Housing Association has expanded its commercial vehicle fleet in partnership with Fraikin on the back of a successful deployment of a data-driven driver training initiative.

The social landlord has taken delivery of a new Maxus Deliver 9 on full-service contract hire. The vehicle joins a 28-strong van fleet solely supplied by Fraikin since it won a competitive tender in 2024.

The expanded agreement builds on the positive impact that Fraikin’s MySmartFleet connected technology platform has had on driver performance.

Working closely with Fraikin’s team, Loreburn Housing Association has used the MySmartFleet solution to enable a targeted driver training programme.

The programme has proved to be so effective that one driver recorded the highest safety score of 2,500 drivers measured by MySmartFleet and scooped Fraikin’s newly launched Driver of the Year award.

Billy Coupland, head of repairs and maintenance at Loreburn Housing Association, said: “Fraikin has taken the time to get to grips with how our services operate and the pressures our teams face every day. Reliability, uptime and driver safety are critical for us, and the consistency we have seen across the fleet since working with Fraikin has helped us maintain high service levels for our tenants.”

Coupland added that the impact of MySmartFleet, together with the expertise and support, cannot be overstated.

“Fraikin has given us detailed, reliable insight into driver behaviour and allowed us to take a more informed and structured approach to safety. Without the platform, achieving the level of improvement we’ve seen across the fleet would simply not have been possible,” he commented.

As with all Fraikin-supplied vehicles, MySmartFleet comes as standard through its full-service contract hire package. The platform provides detailed, real-time insight into vehicle and driver performance, enabling organisations to monitor safety, efficiency and utilisation across their fleet.

Over the past two years, Fraikin’s technical solutions manager Colin Woolmer worked with the charity to design and implement a dedicated improvement programme, using MySmartFleet data to track key indicators such as speeding and harsh driving events. This has enabled targeted training efforts, which have resulted in measurable improvements in behaviour across the fleet, with the added benefit of a clear uplift in overall safety performance.

Speaking on the collaboration, Woolmer said: “Working closely with Loreburn Housing Association has allowed us to deploy a structured improvement programme that is grounded in real operational data. By analysing key MySmartFleet metrics, we have been able to pinpoint where changes were needed and support drivers with targeted, practical guidance.

“The beauty of this scheme is that it can be replicated, creating a framework that other Fraikin customers can follow to achieve similar results.”

As part of Fraikin’s contract hire package, Loreburn Housing Association also benefits from comprehensive servicing, repairs, road fund licensing, regular safety inspections, annual MOT testing, tyre management, roadside assistance, and 24/7, 365 customer service support.

At the same time, the FraikinView online web portal provides a complete overview of all scheduled maintenance work and the ability to track and monitor progress.