Author: Abaranji Sivakumar

Congestion is an increasingly critical business issue after it emerged that delivery drivers lose 16 per cent of their working day to congestion.

Over the course of a typical eight-hour working day, that works out at one hour 17 minutes sat in traffic.

Apply that loss over a five-day week and it adds up to more than six hours wasted, while over an entire year, it means the average delivery driver loses 37 working days a year.

According to the 2,000 UK van owners and operators surveyed by Mercedes Benz Vans, congestion is now the second biggest barrier to business growth, with 31 per cent believing this will be the case in the coming year. This percentage rises to 38 per cent amongst fleet managers, second only to rising fuel costs (57 per cent).

Congestion’s effects are especially felt in the north-west of England, where 43 per cent of respondents cited congestion as a barrier to growth – the highest figure nationally.

The North West is home to an emerging (and controversial) ‘Smart Motorway’ network roll-out that impacts some of Britain’s busiest motorways including the M6, M56, M62 and M60 with completion dates years away.

Congestion is only going to get worse with half of van operators intending to introduce more vehicles to their fleet over the next 12 months, fueled partly by an anticipated 40 per cent rise in online shopping.

Steve Bridge, managing director of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said: “Anyone who has travelled along the M6 recently will fully understand the frustrations felt by our hard-working van drivers.

“The amount of roadworks dotted all along the motorway is causing significant congestion issues, not least the stresses it puts time-sensitive couriers and distribution drivers under.

“Congestion causes delays that cost money as well as time and can damage the reputation of business that rely on their deliveries.”

Jez Strong, general manager for Tele-Gence, commented: “The Department for Transport should take note of these frustrations. If they don’t take appropriate action over the next few years, UK businesses could suffer.”

Your business can benefit from affordable telematics with no hidden start-up fees or long-term commitments. 

A national restaurant supplier has reduced vehicle idling and carbon emissions of its delivery fleet as a result of introducing telematics.

JJ Food Service says it has slashed vehicle idling by 70 per cent, which in turn has had a knock-on decrease of two per cent for total carbon emissions (647.1g/km to 634.8g/km).

Telematics has only been in place on the food wholesalers fleet since January 2018, but within just six months, the amount of time vehicles that were left idling dropped by 55 per cent (or 1,449 hours) a month.

Fuel consumption has benefited too with miles per gallon increasing by 15 per cent to more than 9.6 as drivers began completing deliveries more efficiently.

Sedat Kaan Hendekli, head of operations at JJ Foodservice, said: “The use of telematics has helped us to dramatically improve the efficiency of our drivers resulting in significant fuel savings. Keeping our costs down means we can continue to pass on great savings to our customers.

“Less fuel consumption means a reduction in our environmental impact. Tracking driver behaviour has also shown to improve road safety and reduce the cost of vehicle maintenance – the project has been a great success,” he added.

The supplier has furthered its green ethos by installing solar panels, introducing compostable and biodegradable packaging options, and a totally paperless environment.

Jenny Smith, product manager for Tele-Gence, commented: “This is just one of many happy endings we’re seeing from our telematics customers.”

Vehicle tracking plays a crucial part in fleet management. Tele-Gence offers improved safety for your drivers, security for your vehicles and reduces costs across your fleet. A remarkably flexible, fully customisable system that can be totally tailored to your fleet requirements. It’s easy to use and supported by a dedicated UK-based team to help you manage your fleet effectively.

Telematics has slashed the cost of car insurance for UK motorists by close to a tenth, according to new research.

A study, published by Consumer Intelligence, found that car insurance price cuts are speeding up, with drivers seeing premiums drop by 9.1 per cent on average over the past 12 months.

This means motorists with black box telematics policies are paying an average of £766 for a year’s motor insurance.

Young drivers are the biggest winners when it comes to telematics-backed insurance, with under-25s enjoying annual premium quotes of £1,608 after prices fell by 15.4 per cent in the past year.

Meanwhile, the over-50s saw prices drop 6.8 per cent over the same period to an average of £392.

John Blevins, a pricing expert at Consumer Intelligence, said that telematics had helped quoted premiums drop but another influencing aspect was the fact that insurers have been pre-emptively passing on the anticipated benefits of whiplash reforms to gain a competitive edge.

“The influence of telematics is a major factor with increased use of it by the over-50s and a three per cent rise since March,” he commented.

“Generally, over-50s experience the biggest price rises as a percentage and the smallest price cuts so older drivers should explore telematics if they want to beat the demographic trend.”

Jez Strong, general manager for Tele-Gence, commented: “It’s widely acknowledged that black boxes and telematics-based insurance can help bring down the cost of car insurance – and it’s great to see solid proof of that in these figures.”

Your business can benefit from affordable telematics with no hidden start-up fees or long-term commitments. Find out how at www.tele-gence.com

Photo: TomWang112/iStock

Fleet managers have been making sure they use the right tool for the job after it emerged that more than one in six (17 per cent) fleets have changed the size of the vans they operate on their fleet in the past year.

Eight per cent of companies surveyed by Arval said they had acquired bigger vans in the last 12 months. Conversely, nine per cent had picked up smaller vehicles.

The research found that smaller fleets (i.e. fewer than 10 vehicles) are leading the way with a switch to larger vans, while fleets with more than 50 vehicles are using smaller vehicles.

Shaun Sadlier, head of Arval’s corporate vehicle observatory in the UK, said these findings come after the organisation had urged more van fleets to look at the benefits of rightsizing and ensuring that the vehicles they are using are the right size for their intended use.

“Rightsizing works both ways,” he explained.

“It is inefficient, and can even be unsafe, to use a smaller vehicle for a job that really needs a bigger van and vice versa. This is because of factors such as optimising the payload and maximising fuel consumption.”

He added that migration in van size is becoming a trend with almost one in five fleets changing vehicle size perhaps due to rightsizing.

Additionally, only one in ten fleets sought external advice when buying vans.

“With so much choice, selecting the right van can be a complex and difficult process and this is an area where the van expertise we have developed over many years would be valuable to fleets of all shapes and sizes,” added Mr Sadlier.

Ellie Baker, brand manager at Fuel Card Services, comments: “Using a bigger vehicle than is necessary can lead to fuel wastage while using a vehicle that is too small has its safety implications, so it is great to see that fleets are taking the initiative.”

The global telematics market is expected to grow by almost a quarter by 2024 to reach a market size of $152.7 billion (£116.96 billion).

According to KBV Research, which published the research, the main factors fueling this growth are growing concerns on safety and security, 24/7 connectivity, and the advantage of receiving online vehicle diagnostics and maintenance alerts.

The study explains that because people now expect to stay connected to the internet around the clock, automobile manufacturers believe that providing connectivity solutions in their vehicles will boost car sales.

A statement from KBV Research claims that the automotive industry is going through a phase of digital revolution right now and over the next few years, cars will become communication devices.

“New hi-tech devices, smartphones, high-speed internet, numerous applications and open sources such as Android systems have transformed the concept of connected vehicles,” it reads.

The research splits data into commercial and passenger vehicles and found that in 2017, the commercial vehicle tracking segment generated $28.4 billion, and could grow by 18.2 per cent before the end of 2024.

Globally, North America was the highest revenue-generating segment in 2017, while Germany led Europe’s vehicle tracking market and is on course to be generating $12 billion by 2024.

Jenny Smith, product manager for Tele-Gence, commented: “It’s no surprise that appetite for vehicle tracking is growing around the world. The tech unlocks many benefits for not just company fleets but also private motorists just going about their business.”

Vehicle tracking plays a crucial part in fleet management. Tele-Gence offers improved safety for your drivers, security for your vehicles and reduces costs across your fleet. A remarkably flexible, fully customisable system that can be totally tailored to your fleet requirements. It’s easy to use and supported by a dedicated UK-based team to help you manage your fleet effectively.