Fraikin has secured a flagship contract with Highways England after winning a competitive tender to fleet manage all 4x4s used by its Traffic Officer Service.

Key to the win was Fraikin’s plan to introduce new technology to drive increased efficiency.

The 18-month deal marks the first time the two companies have worked together, with Fraikin assigned to fleet manage 278 Land Rover Discovery and Mitsubishi Shogun vehicles. The 4x4s are used intensively on A-roads and motorways to assist in the management of incidents.

Martin Edgecox, fleet project manager at Highways England, said: “The fleet of vehicles we operate perform a crucial role in helping our traffic officers keep our roads safe and flowing, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We are pleased to be working with Fraikin who have developed a continuous improvement roadmap to deliver real benefits to our operation, demonstrating good value for money for the taxpayer.”

Key changes to be delivered by Fraikin include the roll-out of advanced telematics in all vehicles to enable real-time data sharing and the introduction of dynamic servicing. This will enable proactive maintenance to be triggered by live condition reporting, helping to reduce unplanned downtime and unnecessary servicing.

Telematics will also monitor driver behaviour, allowing Fraikin to make recommendations for reducing fuel consumption and maintenance costs.

Fraikin is also providing the customer with full access to its fleet data through the FraikinView online portal. This allows key staff to view the status of any scheduled or unscheduled maintenance – including projected finish times, report defects online, and view, approve or query recharges – providing complete transparency of fleet operations at any time, from any location.

All maintenance is being managed by a 24/7 team at Fraikin’s new and ultra-modern headquarters in Coventry.

Together, they will schedule all vehicle maintenance requirements, respond quickly to breakdown calls and provide a driver helpline service to deal with immediate issues.

The team will also oversee warranty and recall notices, co-ordinate with third party suppliers for tyres and glazing, plus provide a full accident management and fleet administration service.

Fraikin is tasked with meeting rigorous KPI targets for Highways England, including 93.5% vehicle availability, answering 95% of calls within 30 seconds and guaranteeing attendance at breakdown and recovery callouts within 90 minutes.

James Walker, commercial director at Fraikin, said: “This is a prestige customer and a terrific account to win. We’ve got a clear set of objectives we want to achieve, and we’re confident in our ability to deliver them.

“Key priorities are reducing whole life fleet costs by eliminating unnecessary maintenance events and leveraging both our buying power and fleet management expertise to full effect. Plus, we’re excited about the opportunity to better utilise technology, telematics and the resulting data to make the fleet even more efficient.”

Highways England is a Government-owned company that improves, maintains and operates the country’s motorways and main A roads. Its road network spans more than 4,000 miles and carries a third of all traffic and two thirds of all heavy goods movements.

More articles on: