Bristol-based Gregor Heating and Renewable Energy has worked with Business West to significantly cut its fuel bill by introducing a vehicle management system and fitting its fleet with trackers.

Now the company, which has expanded its fleet from 35 vehicles to in excess of 50 in the past two years, is switching from trackers to introducing telemetry systems in vehicles with a view to ultimately introducing a driver of the year competition.

Owner Steve Gregor said: “We are a renewable energy company and we need to make sure that we protect the environment. What we are doing with the fleet helps with the image of the business.”

He continued: “Since working with Business West we have become much more aware of the total cost of ownership of vehicles - not just the purchase price.”

The company operates a fleet of Vauxhall Corsa cars used by surveyors, while installation and service engineers drive Ford Transit and Transit Connect models.

The installation of tracking devices enabled the company, which has achieved ISO 14001 environmental management accreditation, to monitor drivers’ speeds to ensure they were travelling economically and as environmentally friendly as possible.

Gregor said: “The trackers also mean that we know where every engineer is at any given time, so we can quickly work out who is the closest to a particular job - meaning we’re saving time and fuel.”

He calculates that despite an expanding fleet the company’s fuel bill is “several thousand pounds” less than it was two years ago and also points to other benefits from the technology in terms of driver duty of care, managing employees’ hourly payment rates relative to the length of time on a job; and insurance savings.

He concluded: “We are now fitting a more advanced telemetry system to vehicles that will provide us with more information and, we believe, deliver further efficiencies and savings.”

 

 

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