Wolseley UK has introduced the latest tracking technology across 193 branch vehicles with a view to enhance customer deliveries, increase driver safety and reduce fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent.
Masternaut Connect – from Europe’s leading provider of telematics, Masternaut – is an intelligent telematics solution that collates data in real-time to increase fuel efficiency, improve driver behaviour and reduce vehicle downtime. It also has the facility to alert customers when their deliveries are a certain distance from the delivery location.
As a leading distributor of building, heating and plumbing supplies, Wolseley UK has a fleet of more than 900 vehicles across its branch network including Plumb and Parts Center, Pipe Center, Climate Center, Burdens, Drain Center, Integrated Services and William Wilson.
Following a three-month pilot trial with the new Masternaut Connect system at a Drain Center branch in Tonbridge last year, the company has now rolled it out across a significant number of light commercial and licensed goods vehicles nationwide – 104 belonging to Pipe Center, 21 to Climate Center and 68 to Drain Center. The company is continuing a trial on five vehicles at a Plumb Center branch in Wolverhampton.
Feedback from the Tonbridge pilot demonstrated fuel savings of between 8-10 per cent. The driver’s behaviour is monitored through an in-cab light bar, which alerts them when specific harsh driving events are detected, including rapid acceleration, braking and cornering, idling of the engine and speeding. The light bar then notifies the driver to the degree of which they have exceeded a driving event in real-time, allowing for an instant rectification.
Mike Crowley, Transport Development Manager at Wolseley UK, has been responsible for introducing this cutting-edge technology across the business. He said: “We are always looking for ways to enhance our customer deliveries while keeping our drivers safe and reducing our environmental impact. Masternaut has developed the next generation of telematics compared to what we previously had and was the obvious next stage for our branch transport. Over time, people may develop poor driving habits. This system is not intended as a tool to tell our employees that they are bad drivers, but simply to point out where they can make small changes to become even more efficient.”
Steve Towe, Chief Commercial Officer and UK Managing Director at Masternaut, said: “Telematics has applications right across a business, and as we’re seeing with Wolseley UK, it provides the tool kit to create a more efficient fleet. By providing feedback to drivers, Wolseley UK can reduce speeding and harsh driving events, improve fuel consumption, cut emissions and improve driver safety. Telematics can also help measure fleet utilisation delivering long term and significant cost savings.”
