CLEAN, the linen and workwear laundry specialists are on track to achieve their ‘environmental and commercial targets’ since installing a comprehensive telematics and vehicle tracking system to their delivery and collection vehicle fleet.
Developed and supplied by Verilocation, the system was first trialled by CLEAN during the London Olympics in July 2012. Nine vehicles were fitted with tracking and monitoring to help deliver ‘compliant’ laundry support services to all the southern training venues, including the Olympic Park.
Peter Cox, Group Transport Manager for CLEAN, explains:
“It was important for us to know the exact location of each vehicle at all times and by using the automatic geo-fencing email alerts, we were notified of any deviation from our planned routes in real time. Plus, we were able to monitor fuel use and track each vehicle’s progress through the TMS module - which enabled us to accurately predict ETAs.”
During the trial, the transport team were able to monitor vehicle and driver performance. This included MPG, idling, harsh braking, over torqueing and over revving, which resulted in a more detailed driver de-brief process on daily performance. ‘Job push’ was utilised to send pre-set routes to the in-cab satnav Garmin units to ensure route compliance was adhered to. Two way messaging was a key feature in having the capability of auditable messaging system. It also satisfied the needs for lone worker requirements.
“The PTO - power take off - provided an effective safety and security feature: It alerted us if the vehicle shutter doors were open in an area outside our designated delivery point so that we could investigate if necessary.”
Following the success of the Olympic trials, CLEAN have installed the fleet management system to their entire fleet of 45 LGV & LCV vehicles and have now added Verilocation’s revolutionary Driver Dashboard. Using the latest Android technology, this device comes with integrated satellite navigation and replaces traditional driver identification methods with automatic recognition of driver-vehicle pairing events.
Furthermore, the Driver Dashboard is not only capable of supporting two-way messaging and job - push functions but also can communicate important real time data including CANbus performance feedback and driving analysis - harsh braking, idling, over revving, etc. - which in turn encourages drivers to self-assess their own performance.
“This is certainly a useful addition,” continues Peter Cox “a host of applications on a handheld in-cab device and one which is really easy to use. We have set up league tables on driver performance and we now have the scope to incentivise best practice with clearly measurable metrics. The detailed reports help with one-to-one training and overall we benefit from improved wear and tear, higher standards and greater fuel efficiency.”
In addition to monitoring the commercial fleet, which comprises 3.5 to 18 tonne Mercedes, DAF and MAN vehicles, CLEAN is also using the Verilocation system to monitor company cars, which satisfies lone-worker compliance and enables all vehicle assets to be tracked.
Peter Cox concludes: “CLEAN have introduced the latest innovations and technology across all aspects of the business. These range from high-tech barcoding and RFID to sophisticated vehicle tracking, telephony and IT-based solutions and services. The technology from Verilocation fits well with our business philosophy and certainly enables us to deliver the very best service to our customers. We receive outstanding support and after-sales service and the vehicle reports allow us to monitor our fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, which means we are able to take action where needed to become greener and hit our environmental targets.”
According to Peter Cox, all levels of the company have visibility of the real-time data provided by Verilocation and this information is vital in the daily planning and route optimisation process. Additionally, the system provides valuable information relating to false accident claims and accident investigation.
Based in Maidenhead, and first established in 1886, CLEAN has operations plants based in Banbury, Reading and Camberley, from where the company launders 1.6m linen and 65,000 workwear items every week. Clean has received many accreditations including ISO 9001, a RoSPA Gold Award (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) and The Royal Warrant.