SOUTHAMPTON FREIGHT SERVICES LTD

Reducing our carbon footprint with new TomTom management system

At SFS we have always proudly embraced new technology and regularly invest in new hardware and software that enhance our service, increase efficiency and improve the working environment for our team.

Our most recent addition is a fully automated vehicle management system by TomTom, called WEBFLEET; a fully integrated system that links a standard TomTom Satellite Navigation System with a fuel consumption indicator, vehicle tracking and order management software.

The key areas of improvement are;

Personal Navigation Device

PRO 7100 – PND (Personal Navigation Device)

 

The PRO navigation device is based on our state of the art navigational product equipped with TomTom HD Traffic system, IQ routes, eco routes, Bluetooth hands free kit and much more. It is also a fully functional 2 way messaging system that allows jobs to be sent directly to the driver via the PND. With health and safety in mind, the jobs can be automatically “spoken” to the driver to ensure his/her concentration stays on the road and with the touch of the screen they can navigate the quickest route to the destination, taking into account the current traffic situation. The PND is also the facilitator of TomTom Business Solutions ADF (Active Driver Feedback). ADF will provide drivers with a real-time warning system should they stray from predetermined benchmarks of fuel consumption, speed, cornering, braking and even emissions. Active Driver Feedback allow’s you to train your driver every day, on every journey. The other Business Solution functionality on the device include driver ID, working times recording and also business and private mileage.

Software

TomTom WEBFLEET is the online application used to display all the information gathered by the above. The application is hosted by TomTom at their dedicated, industry leading data centres in Germany, and can be accessed by any internet enabled PC. The intuitive platform allows us to view vehicle locations, behavior profiles, monitor fuel usage and identify locations of driving events. There is a full suite of configurable reports that allow you to select when you would like them to run and who you would like them distributed to.

WEBFLEET will monitor;

• Location (starts and stops)
• Heading
• Mileage
• Speed (by road type i.e is a vehicle doing 40mph in a 30mph zone)
• Average speed through a breach as well as top speed attained
• Harsh braking
• Harsh cornering
• Fuel consumption (both average and by journey)
• CO2 emissions
• Gear Selection
• RPM
• Idling times and fuel wastage (the system will quantify fuel used whilst idling)
• Arrival/departure into specific areas
• Time spent at location (as well as the number of visits to that location)
• Start and end times of a vehicle’s day
• Hours worked (by vehicle and by driver)
• Driver behavioral score (a combination of speeding, fuel consumption, driving events and idling)

 

Vehicle Tracking

Using the GPS system we can track the movement of our vehicles, providing us with a live current location. This can even been shown in a vehicle list or live on the map, where TomTom takes a position every 10 secs and this information is updated in WEBFLEET every minute. We can check on the location of our vehicles at any time – accurately confirming to our clients a real time ETA for pickup or delivery.

We have installed two 40″ screens on the wall of our main office showing a list of current orders for the day and a map showing the vehicle positions in real time, together with their speed, MPG, rpm and gear!

Driver Performance

The TomTom solution takes all the elements of driver behaviour further by creating an overall driver score based on key cost to the business. This is called the OptiDrive indicator and it measures drivers on Speeding, Driving Events, Idling and fuel consumption giving all drivers a score out of 10. Below is an example list of drivers and on the right hand side you can see the drivers weekly score and also their trend i.e. are they getting better.

 

In a little over one month we have completely revolutionised our transport operation, reducing fuel usage, improving efficiency both for our transport department and also our operations team, reducing our carbon footprint and bringing us fully into the 21st century.

The system is supplied by authorised supplier COGS Fleet Management;

Cogs Fleet Management Ltd, Innovation House, Molly Millars Close, Wokingham, RG41 2RX

Glen Horwood – glen@cogsgroup.com Tel: 01344 777528