British Gas has saved just over £2m in collision costs after piloting a Best Practice scheme for vans across its 10,200-strong fleet of LCVs.
Since starting with the Van Best Practice programme, the utility provider, which spends approximately £7.7m on fleet repairs annually, has reduced road traffic incidents by 14.6% and costs by £312,867 during the past two years.
The company also reveals it has saved on vehicle downtime, worker productivity and insurance excesses, pushing the total savings over the £2m mark.
Colin Marriott, general manager fleet services at Centrica, which owns British Gas, says: "Two years ago, we set out to improve driver safety and also reduce fuel consumption. Since using Van Best Practice, we managed to reduce road traffic accidents and the costs associated with lost man-hours, vehicle repairs and downtime."
British Gas has been able to make these savings after investing heavily (£750,000 so far) in new monitoring structures, namely detailed incident analyses, reducing vehicles' top speeds to 70mph, greater focus on young drivers and individual driver risk assesment
Marriott continues: "In future, we want to link our vehicle collision data with fuel efficiency data because we can establish patterns of excessive fuel use and poor road safety and take the corrective measures before any incidents happen."
Following a two-year trial period, the Department for Transport (DfT) has officially launched the Van Best Practice (VBP) programme to the entire van-driving public. It is a free advice scheme that is aimed at every van user, from sole traders to major fleet operators, and has been designed to complement other programmes such as Driving for Better Business and SAFED.
Larry Martindale, Van Best Practice programme manager, says: "Vans account for 13% of all UK road traffic, and there are roughly 3.2 million registered vans in the UK. The Van Best Practice scheme is aiming to be the leading source of free information to this huge industry. Our website will featutre case studies, step-by-step guides and even video tutorials on the best practice for vans."
The first two guides are available free for download at www.businesslink.gov.uk/vanbestpractice
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