Fleets in focus: HSS Hire

Innovative fleet management has seen HSS Hire downsize its vehicle fleet, cut spend with third-party logistics partners and reduce operating costs while still growing the business and delivering improved customer service.

Ensuring product availability to meet customer demand is  key to the company’s multi-million pound business and the fleet plays an integral part in delivering that service.

With around 40,000 account customers and more than 800,000 deliveries a year, running an efficient fleet is crucial to the success of the national tool and equipment supplier.

The fleet strategy took a new turn in 2010 when HSS Hire installed Matrix telematics software.

It revealed that one in five vehicle journeys were used to source and move equipment from site to site rather than simply delivering products to customers so the company set out to investigate how it could maximise vehicle utilisation solely for customer deliveries.

By using the information gained from the telematics software, HSS Hire embarked on an ambitious transformation of its logistics operation.

In a departure from the traditional equipment hire model, the company consolidated all front-line vehicles and all transport activity from more than 100 smaller branches into 33 dedicated distribution centres and made the decision to move to a 24-hour operation.

As a result, HSS Hire is now able to move equipment from one hub to another anywhere in the country between 5pm and 7am, helping it to better respond to demand and ensuring best-in-class product availability.

“We identified a real peaks and troughs approach to our vehicle utilisation by having them based at various sites and we found that by consolidating our transport centres and not spreading the vehicles so thinly we were able to improve utilisation and reduce costs while improving the way we serviced the customer,” says fleet manager Lee Jackson.

Reducing the number of transport sites has also enabled communication and training for drivers to be delivered faster and more efficiently with more employees based at fewer sites.

In addition, because the company now operates a 24-hour business, it has little need to use third-party contractors to help with internal distribution movements as these are now carried out during the night.

The HSS Hire fleet consists of 380 light commercial vehicles, 250 cars and 120 HGVs, primarily funded via contract hire. All LCVs are 3.5-tonne Mercedes-Benz Sprinters.

With the company offering more than 2,000 product types for hire, ranging from handheld drills and carpet cleaners to mini-diggers and generators, its vehicles need to be versatile.

Jackson works closely with manufacturers to identify and specify the right vehicles for the job.

Key to the choice of vehicle is ensuring his van partner can offer the right level of support for the fleet. Mercedes-Benz’s specialist van network is affiliated to its truck dealerships, which means 24-hour service and repair.

Emergency fuel bunkering

According to Jackson’s wholelife cost methodology, this reduces downtime by an average of one and a half days over the vehicles’ operating cycle compared to other manufacturers.

All vehicles are equipped with hand-held devices to capture proof of delivery and collection as well as prompting daily vehicle checks before they leave the transport centre.

Fuel is purchased though Allstar fuel cards and HSS Hire encourages drivers to use supermarkets.

It also has an emergency bunkering system with 20,000-litre tanks sited at some of the larger transport hubs in preparation for shortages or strikes that may put a strain on fuel availability.

Jackson began his career at HSS Hire as a driver and worked his way through various roles, becoming fleet manager 11 years ago.

Experience at grassroots level gives him greater empathy with drivers and, in turn, gains him their respect which makes it easier to implement new initiatives. He also encourages feedback from drivers which helps support new developments.

Making sure the company has the right drivers for the job is a priority and it starts with the recruitment process.

“We’ve done a lot of work around recruitment. You can employ drivers or you can employ people that drive,” says Jackson.

“We employ drivers; people that understand commercial operations, are professional and understand about loading commercial vehicles as well as having a customer service focus.”

The induction process is comprehensive and includes new recruits buddying up with existing drivers to understand the operation.

Prospective drivers complete a pre-qualifying questionnaire on the types of vehicles they will be driving so the company can gauge what LCV experience they have.

"They must also have a minimum of three years’ driving experience.

CPC training, which will become law in September 2014, has also been initiated.

“We invest in our employees so we want to make sure we recruit the right people,” Jackson says.

“They are more than drivers; they underpin our network and they represent our company to our customers.”

Telematics has played a key role in the transformation of the fleet, from improving operational processes to now actively managing the business on a day-to-day basis.

“We are proud as a business for doing things the right way and telematics has helped us ensure we keep improving,” Jackson says. “If you are able to measure something, you are able to do something about it.”

Improved route planning

The telematics data is also helping Jackson to monitor and manage driver behaviour and fuel use.

It’s had an immediate impact. Although the fleet travelled more than 12 million miles in 2012, that was down 7% year-on-year, despite HHS Hire completing more jobs across an extended time period.

Part of the reduction is due to the consolidation of the fleet, but improved route planning and more efficient stock distribution have both helped to increase jobs per vehicle and reduce the miles travelled.

In addition, proactive confirmation with customers means drivers no longer turn up at an address to find no-one is home.

Telematics also helps HSS Hire to monitor, review and manage driver behaviour –profiling and scoring them on performance and benchmarking against best practice. The data enables the in-house trainers to identify any areas for additional training.

“We want to ensure best practice driving and protect the driver so we work together to do this. Managers are accountable to their drivers and responsible for using this information effectively,” says Jackson.

Efficiency improvements within the company have more than paid for the investment in telematics and Jackson believes there is much more to come from the technology. However, he believes that it is not enough just to install a system.

“We knew telematics would offer great insight, but you have to use the full technology and use the data to apply the information in order to really drive the benefits,” he says.

“Telematics on its own has limited use. It’s important to monitor the information and then actually translate that knowledge into action.

“We feed that data into our own system so we can track driver activity and use it to both manage our operational efficiency and keep our customers informed of our ETAs.”

As well as investing in telematics, HSS Hire has introduced a range of environmental and safety initiatives which have helped to contribute to a 16% reduction in road traffic accidents and improved its ‘green’ credentials.

These include an innovative ‘cheese-wedge’ tail-lift design, which reduces hazards, and speed limiters set at 70mph in all vans, as well as the latest diesel technology and on-board charging facilities.

Jackson also made the decision to install quick response accident buttons in the vans, providing the drivers with immediate support and guidance.

The calls are managed by VMS Accident Management, which also handles the claim in the event of an accident, ensuring repair costs and vehicle off-road times are minimised.

Never one to stand still, the company takes responsibility seriously and has been audited and accredited by the Freight Transport Association and the Freight Operator Recognition Scheme.

Lower costs; better service

HSS Hire’s 250 company cars include Vauxhall Insignias and models from BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. All cars fall below 160g/km CO2 and are leased through Arnold Clark.

Replacement cycles are three or four years depending on mileage.

All drivers must have at least a year’s driving experience while, as part of its ‘serious about safety’ initiative, HSS Hire offers advanced driver training.

Putting the technology aside, Jackson’s passion and enthusiasm for the safety and efficiency of the fleet and its drivers has reduced operating costs while continually improving service.

It means HSS Hire is saving money while offering customers a better service – a perfect combination.