Effective use of data central to Stannah's fleet improvements

An improved use of data and greater involvement in fleet from all areas of the organisation has helped Stannah Management Services make widespread improvements.

In the past 18 months, the organisation, which was named fleet of the year (251-1,000 vehicles) in the 2023 Fleet News Awards, has improved its accident rate and adopted a wholelife cost model for vehicle acquisition, playing an important role in its transition to an electric fleet.

Driving the transformation forwards is fleet manager Denise Hawkins.

“In general, I just love data, it’s my thing,” she says. “Maybe in another life I’d have been a data analyst or something, but at the end of the day there’s so much data when it comes to fleet that when you deal with it properly it’s not overwhelming, it can be really helpful.”

One example of how Stannah has changed the way it uses data is its telematics system. Previously, the information being used for driver performance assessments was based on individual events, such as harsh braking or speeding.

These events were assigned points and if a driver amassed over a certain score, this triggered follow-up action such as training.

“We changed this to give a more rounded view of someone’s overall safety and efficiency,” says Hawkins. The new method also allows for variance between higher and lower mileage drivers.

“We are looking at complete driver profiles and bringing in things like their fine history, so if any driver comes on to our radar, it’s then an opportunity to look at their driver profile and risk profile and go ‘okay, should we jump in and give this person some training?’.”

The move to driver profiles was initially made mainly to make it fairer to the drivers as it gave a better indication of performance.

In the first six months of the new system, the overall scores for the company improved 2% in safer speeds, which equates to 35,000 safer miles driven.

The average score of the bottom 10 performers improved even more with an increase of 8%.

Stannah’s telematics system uses in-cab feedback, while drivers also have access to their performance through an app.

“This allows them to take ownership,” says Hawkins. “It’s not just us going ‘ok, you’ve done something, have a slap on the wrist’, it’s giving them the power to see their score going up or down when they change their behaviour.”

Safety culture

While data is a central part of Stannah’s risk management strategy, the involvement of other parts of the business is also key.

“If the culture isn't there in the background, the drivers are just not going to care,” says Hawkins.

The company has a driver steering committee made up of key strategic stakeholders, including representatives from HR, health and safety, fleet and operations.

“Quite often you find directors may not be that interested in the fleet, but ours wanted to be more involved, which is a fantastic thing,” says Hawkins.

“They’re getting more first-hand knowledge of what’s going on as opposed to just getting annual reports.”

The driver steering committee reviews collisions, complaints and telematics data on a monthly basis to seek individual corrective action and the potential changes to improve safety and reduce risk.

The inclusion of health and safety and HR representatives raises awareness of driver safety among the wider company as well as gaining expertise in how to approach certain issues and actively manage them.

“We also have operational managers from different parts of the company getting involved because one of the things that had happened when trying to roll out training was pushback from operations, saying ‘well, I haven’t got time to take drivers off the road for the day; it’s going to cost me money’,” says Hawkins.

“But having them involved in the steering committee helps them see the bigger picture to understand why we’re doing training and how it will improve things.”

Several processes within the fleet team have also been automated, including the starter and leaver process.

These automations have made the procedure more efficient as well as removing the possibility of things being missed from the required assessments. Compliance is now 100% as notifications are now linked to the HR process.

As well as a van fleet of around 440 and around 230 company cars, Stannah has around 70 cash allowance takers. All these grey fleet vehicles are added to its fleet and driver management system to ensure they all meet the company’s environmental and safety standards.

The system monitors services and MOT due dates and prompts drivers to complete. On an annual basis, the drivers must submit confirmation of business insurance, MOT and servicing, as well as the same health declaration as company vehicle drivers.

The drivers are enrolled on to the same risk management application and subject to the same driving standard levels as company vehicle drivers.

Drivers are required to declare all incidents that happen and any that occur during a business trip will be viewed the same as incidents in fleet vehicles.

Wholelife cost model

Stannah outright purchases its vehicles and introduced a wholelife cost model for car procurement in mid-2022.

“If you lease and you’re getting 10 cars in one go, it’s not going to be that bad, but if you’re purchasing 10 electric vehicles at the same time, that’s going to be a big hit,” says Hawkins.

“Planning is key to keep cashflow healthy, but you also need to get the full picture of that cost: purchase price is one element, but there is also the actual first year capital allowance tax relief you can take back in the first year for electric vehicles.

“That makes a massive difference. So although an EV may have purchase price of £10,000 more than the equivalent ICE vehicle, it doesn’t mean it will actually cost the company £10,000 more over the financial year.”

This has helped Stannah, which has a committed to reaching Net Zero by 2030, make great inroads into electrifying its car fleet by allowing EVs to be available to all levels of car drivers: the number of BEVs on its fleet increase from one in October 2022 to 50 at the end of 2023.

Stannah is also increasing the number of cash allowance takers adopting EVs by introducing an EV-only salary sacrifice scheme specifically for them.

This works as EVs are far more affordable through this funding method than through personal contract hire.

“There’s been a really positive uptake so far and I know, from word of mouth, there are a lot of people just waiting for their own PCHs to expire and then will be jumping right in there,” says Hawkins.

The van fleet is proving trickier to electrify due to the capabilities of the current zero emission vehicles as well as the personal circumstances of employees, with Stannah putting together a working group to plan how to make the transition.

“The range isn’t there yet, the payloads aren’t there yet,” says Hawkins. “Also, our drivers take the vans home at the end of every day, so you have to look at home charging as well.

“We started a fact-finding survey looking at issues such as who has a driveway and you come to the conundrum that the drivers that are most suitable to go electric from a range and payload perspective are the ones that are least likely to have a driveway they based in big cities and how many people in London actually have a driveway?

“And if you do, you're not going to be able to fit more than one vehicle on it. If they've got a company van and their own personal car, they're going to want to put their own car on the driveway.”

Fleet News Awards judges’ comments

Outstanding use of data and strong reporting has resulted in an efficient fleet that is reducing both cost and carbon, with full engagement of key stakeholders. Excellent innovation, robust grey fleet policies and an EV-first strategy that has set the business on its transition plan.

Sponsor's comment

Northgate Vehicle Hire is delighted to have presented the Fleet of the Year Award to Stannah Management Services.

Adam Naylor, UK head of sales, who presented the award, said: “It is clear that the risk and safety measures implemented by Stannah are delivering significant benefits to the company. This, coupled with the strides taken in electrifying their fleet is a fantastic achievement and it is fitting that they have been recognised on this the industry’s biggest night.

"We’d also like to offer our congratulations to the highly commended finalists in this category, Altrad Services and Platform Housing, on their success in the awards.”