Stannah has cut management costs across its van fleet by more than £100,000 despite a 32% increase in the number of vehicles operated.
Since outsourcing its now 410-strong van fleet to Fleet Service Great Britain (FSGB), the independent supplier of lift products has seen the pence per mile cost fall from 4.51p to 2.78p per mile – a reduction of 1.73p or 38% over a near seven-year period. During the same time span, the fleet has grown by 100 vehicles while total fleet mileage extrapolated over 12 months is up 10%.
The vast majority of Stannah’s purchased all-diesel van fleet are Mercedes-Benz Vito and Sprinter and Volkswagen Caddy and Transport models operated over a five-year/120,000-mile replacement cycle with maintenance undertaken on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Although part of the reduction in the pence per mile cost is due to improved vehicle manufacturer reliability, it’s also the result of an overall approach to identify and manage SMR costs, including through enhanced driver discipline allied to Stannah using a suite of fleet management tools.
During the last two years the age profile of the van fleet has reduced. Martin Carter, Stannah’s group information systems director who is in charge of the fleet, explained: “We are adhering much closer to our five-year/120,000-mile policy. We used to let some vans run on, but using FSGB’s data we looked at the pence per mile operating costs over a period of time and it was obvious that above 120,000 miles there was a clear increase in SMR expenditure.”
Furthermore, each Stannah van is allocated to an individual driver who works from home and is equipped with telematics that records and delivers a raft of data notably relating to driver behaviour and how a vehicle is driven. Stannah’s drivers also use the FSGB’s driver app, with features including accident reporting and an SMR job booking facility.
FSGB head of sales Marcus Bray said: “FSGB provides Stannah with a comprehensive fleet maintenance management solution and, importantly, ownership of every single service and repair issue is fully managed through to completion. FSGB operates as an extension of Stannah’s own fleet department.
“The maintenance management results are very positive which demonstrates, in my view, a good working partnership and also, very importantly, a Stannah policy which encourages ownership and responsibility from a driver perspective.”For more of the latest industry news, click here.
