Tayto Group cuts fuel bill by £72,000 with telematics

Snack food company Tayto Group has slashed its annual fuel spend by £72,000 and reduced its carbon footprint after using TomTom Telematics technology to change driver behaviour.

The Armagh-based firm has boosted fuel economy by 15% by reducing both speeding and idling through a programme to improve driving performance.

The scheme is underpinned by Webfleet, TomTom's SaaS fleet management platform, which allows Tayto to monitor aspects of driving style, including speeding, acceleration, fuel efficiency, idling time and harsh steering or braking.

Peter Rush, purchasing and fleet manager at Tayto Group, said: "By gaining unprecedented insight into the behaviour of our drivers, we have been able to address areas of poor performance and drastically reduce inefficiency in the operation of our vehicle fleet.

"The data delivered by Webfleet provided the perfect starting point for us to work with our staff in order to help them better understand where improvements could be made and, ultimately, become better, safer and more environmentally-aware drivers."

Tayto worked in partnership with TomTom reseller partner Fleet Simplicity to develop processes that allowed them to make best use of the data provided by Webfleet to meet their specific business goals.

Drivers are provided with weekly communications on speeding, idling and driver behaviour, as well as twice-weekly fuel awareness updates, monthly group reviews and targeted training. Webfleetalso profiles each driver, giving them an Optidrive score from one to 10 based on how safely and efficiently they are driving in terms of speeding, incidences of harsh steering or braking and mpg.

As a result of being able to manage and communicate using the score, Tayto achieved a 42% improvement in average Optidrive score in 12 months.

Tayto has also used Webfleet to monitor the use of its vehicles more closely, effectively eliminating any unauthorised out-of-hours usage.

The system automatically logs vehicle mileage and reports on business and private mileage to simplify expenses claims and records for HMRC compliance.

"Insightful data is crucial to business intelligence and Tayto has put itself in a great position to evolve and respond to any future challenges by tackling inefficient practice," added Giles Margerison, director UK and Ireland at TomTom Telematics.

"By using the available information to identify where issues might exist and working with drivers to address them where necessary, it is possible to bring about positive change in the operation of a vehicle fleet."