Westward Housing strikes telematics deal with RAC

The RAC has agreed a four-year contract with Westward Housing to supply telematics devices for the fleet of vans operated by the housing association.

Westward, which provides services for more than 7,500 homes across Devon and Cornwall, has a fleet of 56 vans, enabling the company to maintain its rented homes and deliver a range of support services to its customers.

In order to win the competitive tender against eight other providers, the RAC had to demonstrate its technology has highly accurate real-time GPS mapping and was capable of providing Westward Housing with detailed vehicle data reporting.

That included showing the status of all its vehicles whether stationary, idling or moving, alongside thorough fuel-use analytics.

The RAC will be installing and maintaining all 56 devices.

Nigel Humpherson, RAC’s head of commercial and connected solutions, said he was “proud” that Westward Housing chose the RAC to be its telematics partner and is confident it will be able to identify some “significant efficiencies” that will be benefit their business.

“We look forward to working closely with the team from installation right through to forging a long-term collaborative and positive relationship that delivers measurable business benefits,” he added.

Westward Housing will use the RAC’s web-based user interface to monitor driving standards and fuel economy as well as vehicle downtime following any reported incidents being detected.

Westward’s chief executive Barbara Shaw said: “It was clear from the tender process that the RAC had the extensive telematics experience we needed to be able to monitor our fleet of 56 vans.

“Being able to track our vehicles accurately and understand how driving behaviour affects fuel costs and vehicle maintenance requirements has the potential to make a valuable difference to the ongoing operation of our fleet.”