Auto Windscreens cuts its costs through streamlined processes

Shaun Atton has made considerable progress during his short four-year fleet management career, illustrated by the success of Auto Windscreens at the Fleet News Awards.

In 2020, Auto Windscreens won most improved fleet and was highly commended in the fleet of the year up to 1,000 vehicles; this year, it was named fleet of the year, with Atton highly commended as fleet manager of the year.

It’s been an impressive rise for the former apprentice technician. He is now responsible for an operation consisting of 310 light commercial vehicles and 41 cars, spending around 70% of his time managing the fleet and the rest on facilities.

Next year, the fleet is expected to grow by around 16% as the company recruits an additional 54 mobile technicians.

Planning is already well underway, in close consultation with its two leasing providers, Arnold Clark and Rivervale, with orders secured despite on ongoing vehicle supply shortages.

“Our providers are aware of our ambitions for 2022 growth and the vehicles for this have been secured for the first quarter,” Atton says.

“Alongside vehicle orders, we have engaged with suppliers of equipment for the fit-out of our vehicles, as we are aware there are longer lead times on some materials. Ensuring we have orders secured is paramount.”

Atton has extended the company’s lease cycle for vans from three years to four, which has resulted in a £132,000 annual cost saving, allowing the company to make further investment in the fleet.

This includes installation of new lightweight racking, which is offering additional savings through reduced fuel consumption.

Atton says the company’s previous racking solution did not make it into a second lease cycle, whereas its new lightweight racking can be fitted into a replacement van, giving the company eight years use, as opposed to three.

“In terms of vehicle technology and reliability, a four-year lease is not a massive term to be running a van for,” Atton says.

“There’s a big investment that goes into our vehicles for racking and equipment – so there’s a saving from not taking it out for three years.

“Some equipment gets recycled, some of it is not recyclable after three years – we get an extra year out the equipment fitted into our vehicles, giving us a huge saving.”

The lease cycle for cars is three years. Atton left this unchanged as cars form part of a staff incentive package and, in most cases, newer vehicles result in more engaged team members.

Pooled mileage flexibility

All vehicles are on pooled mileage contracts giving the company flexibility and eliminating the need to redistribute them.

Auto Windscreens can also service customers at its nationwide depots which helps to reduce fleet mileage.

Atton has limited the number of funders to two. It gives him a competitive benchmark on lease prices but also enables him to build stronger relationships with account managers compared with managing the company’s previous five funders.

“We had been using our previous lease providers for the past 15-20 years, so it was one of our big projects. That’s when we came up with Rivervale and Arnold Clark, which we’ve built a relationship with over many years,” says Atton.

“In my experience, having additional funders can lead to confusion and less autonomy over damage and mileage terms. Now we’re streamlined, we’re able to negotiate in volume more effectively and have saved around 6% in lease costs.

“We own seven vehicles outright, of which six cover high mileage, meaning purchase worked out better than leasing.”

The company also has support terms in place with manufacturers who appear on its choice list and holds quarterly reviews with the account manager to ensure it receives the best terms, which feed down to the lease provider.

Connected and engaged fleet

Over  the past two years, Auto Windscreens has been focused on developing a connected and engaged fleet to manage risk and safety.

It has integrated VisionTrack’s connected camera solution with Webfleet’s real-time telematics platform, moved its accident management in house, switched to an in-house claims management service and launched a new driver training programme.

The total incident rate as a percentage of the fleet is 17.3%, substantially below industry averages. Claims were made for all incidents in 2020.

Atton led the integration of the telematics software with the cameras for a single tracking and driver behaviour solution which helps protect drivers and track vehicles while reducing fuel and insurance costs.

“Knowing vehicle speed and g-force when an incident occurs, alongside real-time video footage, offers indisputable evidence to  challenge claims,” he says.

“It’s helped reduce their frequency and decreased insurance costs by 7.5% this year.”

The company has also improved fuel consumption through route planning and is using telematics data to challenge unnecessary idling, reducing this from an average of 60 hours per month in 2019 to 27 in 2020.

Auto Windscreens will also be investing in factory-fitted integrated rear-view cameras for vehicles next year.

Atton’s team has devised a bespoke fleet management system, built into Auto Windscreen’s Field Service Management platform, that provides scheduling, personnel ID data, traceability and control.

It records licence details with real-time updates, while managing vehicle maintenance, servicing, MOT and tax information.

The company has developed the system over the past 12 months, adding dashboards and functionality including sending jobs to mechanics via tablets, whose work feeds into the company’s management information (MI), creating digital logs for vehicle service history.

Performing own repairs

With the system, Auto Windscreens has synchronised mechanics’ equipment and diagnostic tests, enabling the company to service and repair vehicles itself, rather than visit a dealer, offering a saving of £22,000 per year.

Atton plans to develop the system further and in early 2022 will roll out a driver app that has been developed by its internal IT teams, to accommodate both company van and car users.

“The app will have daily walkarounds on weekly vehicle checks, incident reporting, incident investigations and frequently asked questions,” he says.

“Moving into Quarter 2 of next year, we will incorporate telematics data into the app to provide gamification for drivers. Now, our technicians see the driving scores through reports, and we see a bit of banter between them – it encourages better in-house competition. Instead, they’ll be able to see that information on the app and drivers can visit it whenever they want.”

A ‘lone working’ element will also be built into the app that triggers alerts if a driver hasn’t moved for a specific period, or if a vehicle is not in a place it is expected to be, making use of geofencing on the technician’s trackers.

“A trigger will prompt a phone call from our dispatch team to the technician to ensure everything is ok. It’s about knowing where they are in difficulty and putting measures in place to act on that if they are,” Atton says.

Auto Windscreens has also integrated BP Fuel Cards with its telematics system, where the card or BPme app are used for payment instead of cash, reducing downtime and increasing pandemic-related safety, as drivers don’t have to leave vehicles to pay.

All emissions associated with the fleet are offset in partnership with BP Target Neutral.

Atton on… trialling EVs

Auto Windscreens has engaged Energy Saving Trust to compile an electric vehicle (EV) report and is trialling vehicles with a view to having a fully electric fleet by 2030.

“There’s not the right commercial vehicle out there for us yet. We’ve trialled the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Vauxhall Vivaro-e, Custom Transits – which only have a low roof. We’ll keep trialling until the right vehicle comes along,” says Atton.

“There’s pockets of the country where we could implement a fully electric fleet if we had the right vehicle. We’re at that stage where we know where the pockets are, where we could put an EV, but it’s finding the right vehicle.”

The company offers incentives to employees using an electric or hybrid company car, including an increased monthly budget and a home charge point installed free of charge.

It is also in the process of implementing an EV salary sacrifice scheme.

“We will offer the scheme to our senior management team first and filter it down; by the middle of 2022 it will be a group-wide scheme for all employees,” says Atton.

“There will be some eligibility criteria, length of service, etc. But we will offer it to the bulk of staff, offering a tax saving for them and a fully maintained vehicle.

“It’s going to slowly take away from the traditional company car and we’ll see a lot of company car users adopting the salary sacrifice scheme, as there’s some big savings involved.”

Sponsor’s comment

Northgate Vehicle Hire is delighted to have presented the Fleet of the Year Award to Auto Windscreens. Neil McCrossan, sales and marketing director, who presented the award said: “It is clear that the innovations and changes implemented by fleet manager Shaun Atton and his team in driving the fleet strategy forward have already delivered significant benefits to all stakeholders and will continue to do so.

“It is fitting that they have been recognised and celebrated on this the industry’s biggest night. We’d also like to offer our congratulations to Brecon Beacons National Park Authority who were highly commended in the category, and all the other finalists.”