Fleet News Award winner: Fleet of the Year 251-500 vehicles – Rhodar

Three years ago asbestos removal company Rhodar lacked a fleet manager with the purchasing department largely responsible for the fleet.

In September 2010, Steve Haigh, who has been in the automotive industry for more than 30 years, was brought in to manage the fleet.

Since his appointment, Haigh, who looks after the fleet together with transport administrator Natalie Shaw, says they have “taken the fleet by the scruff of the neck and given it a shake”.

His long list of changes include introducing fleet software, moving maintenance on the commercial fleet to pay-as-you-go, switching accident management and fuel card providers, upgraded its tracking system, fitting speed limiters to all commercial vehicles and lowering the CO2 emissions cap from 169g/km to 129g/km.

But arguably the biggest change has been a new risk management policy, which has seen a 90% fall in at-fault accidents.

The policy, Safeguard: Beyond Zero, addresses attitudes and behaviours towards health and safety.

Haigh explains: “It all stems from the industry we’re in. We’re as highly regulated as the nuclear industry because asbestos is a major issue.

“Everything we do is driven by our zero tolerance to breaches in employee safety and public safety.”

Under Safeguard, all new employees receive a driver handbook and a request for their driving licence, which is checked with the Licence Bureau before the employee is allowed to drive on company business.

All drivers undergo an on-the-road assessment at least once a year, as well as classroom-based training which includes a health and safety board game.

Fleet News: How does your board game work?

Steve Haigh: It’s a bit like Monopoly. As you move round the board and land on certain squares you have to take
a card with a question on it. It tests and refreshes drivers’ health and safety knowledge. It’s a bit of fun but it’s educational.

FN: What is your policy on accidents?

SH: We have a three strikes and you’re out rule. For the first accident we investigate it and we’ll offer tips and guidance and, potentially, a behind-the-wheel assessment.

If you have a second accident in a 12-month period you will get a behind-the-wheel assessment and tips. If you have a third accident in a 12-month period we look at whether you should be driving for us.

If you don’t have any accidents in a three-year period there is a £250 cash incentive.

FN: How do your car driver and van driver handbooks differ?

SH: We have different procedures on vehicle checks. We insist that van drivers check their vehicles daily and report defects formally. They have a form they must complete on a daily basis.

Car drivers acknowledge they are carrying out regular checks when they complete their mileage return at the end of the month.

FN: What audits do you carry out?

SH: We have external ISO audits but we also have an internal audits team.

They audit every single job we do and that includes an individual vehicle audit. We also audit each depot twice a year to check there is a file for every vehicle and every driver and that maintenance is up to date.

I already have this information from our fleet software, but I like to see the physical evidence exactly as if VOSA came in and did a spot check.

I run the fleet as if it was a HGV fleet. I’d rather be too compliant than not compliant.

FN: How important is driver communication?

SH: It’s essential. I’m known by every driver in this company. Every depot sees me on a monthly basis.

I call it my ‘Gold Blend run’ – I go and have coffee in every depot. You can get far more done sometimes just by having that face-to-face contact.

I also send regular communication out via email. I tell them what we’re doing and why. If they know why you’re doing something and can see the benefits they will support you.

FN: Why did you decide to roll out speed limiters to the van fleet?

SH: From a duty of care point of view, I wasn’t comfortable with having a vehicle that could have five or six people in it, towing a trailer, and the potential to do 90mph.

Also, we get better fuel economy because the limiter is linked to the rev banding of the engine.

FN: How did you negotiate a reduction in your insurance premium?

SH: We went to our insurer’s main office in London and did a presentation, explaining ‘this is where we were and this is where we’re at now’.

The insurer looked at the accident stats, looked at what we were doing – the procedures, the driver handbooks, driver training, auditing, telemetry and speed limiters – and reduced the premium on the back of it.

FN: Why have you upgraded your telematics system?

SH: We had basic tracking for four years but that’s just pins on a map. We’ve now gone for an all-singing all-dancing system which will give us information on driver behaviour.

We want to be able to highlight particular problems, such as harsh braking because that impacts on maintenance costs.

FN: How did you ‘sell’ the new telematics system to your drivers?

SH: The provider, Masternaut, was very good.  It produced a driver handbook with us that explained: ‘It’s not big brother watching you.

Yes, the company wants to know what’s going on but it’s not a stick to hit you with. It’s a cost saving tool because we can look at fuel economy better and look at maintenance.

It’s a tool to re-educate drivers. The system produces a monthly league table and we love a bit of healthy competition at Rhodar. No-one wants to be bottom of the table.

FN: What are your future plans with the fleet?

SH: We’ve got a lot of commercials to renew so I’m looking at the various manufacturers at the moment. We’re going to expand our driver assessments to include online risk assessments.

I would like to think we will achieve the FTA’s Van Excellence this year as we’re ready for it. The chief executive and I are also going to look at whether we can work that little bit smarter.

That might be car sharing, using public transport and route planning. We’re going to evaluate it and come up with a procedure or policy and communicate it in due course.

I don’t want to go too mad because we’ve had so much change and I want to let things settle.

Board level support has been crucial to Rhodar’s success.

After winning the Fleet News Award, Haigh was called into the main board meeting and personally thanked by all of the board members for the hard work.

He also received a handwritten letter of appreciation from the chief executive.

“That was nice because not all companies appreciate fleet,” Haigh says. “We are a support service rather than a revenue generator.”

But the Rhodar fleet certainly shows the value of having a good fleet manager.