Companies and Drivers Benefit From Safed For HGVS: A Selection of Case Studies
Companies and Drivers Benefit From Safed For HGVS: A Selection of Case Studies
Companies and Drivers Benefit From Safed For HGVS: A Selection of Case Studies
i
Contents
1 Introduction 1
6.1 Fleetmaster 22
8 Moving On 27
8.1 SAFED 27
8.2 Freight Best Practice 27
8.3 Government information 27
8.4 Driver training and safety 27
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1 Introduction
The Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving (SAFED) guide was This guide describes the experiences of a selection of
first published in May 2003. It is aimed at improving the companies and drivers operating a variety of vehicle
safe and fuel efficient driving techniques of Heavy types: box vehicles, curtain-sided vehicles, flat beds,
Goods Vehicle (HGV) drivers. The guide was tankers and tippers. One example features a driver
developed for Freight Best Practice by a steering group agency. The positive messages conveyed from these
of industry experts. case studies should stimulate others to take advantage
of the SAFED training programme and achieve similar
The SAFED training programme was developed benefits within their companies. In today’s competitive
specifically to enable both vehicle operators and world, no company can afford to pass up the chance to
training providers to implement driver training and cut fuel costs, reduce maintenance costs and improve
development for existing HGV drivers within the road safety performance.
freight industry. The Department for Transport
sponsored the programme and during the funded Completing the training and seeing the initial benefits
stage, a number of commercial training providers are, however, only part of the story. Companies need to
assisted in delivering the SAFED programme take further action if they are to sustain the early
nationwide. Check with your local training provider to savings and, indeed, surpass them. This guide also
see if they now offer SAFED training courses. contains guidance on ways to sustain the benefits
achieved under SAFED in the longer term.
Driver training consists of a full day training course,
which includes practical assessments and theory Advice for those looking to take advantage of the
papers based around the following themes: SAFED training programme is also given.
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3
2 Case Studies on Box Vehicles
2.3 Exel
2
2.1 PS Transport Ltd
Using SAFED
View from a Driver’s Perspective
“I first read about the SAFED scheme in the Freight
Ken Marrows, now 58, has been driving trucks since
Future newsletter,” says Mr Ellis. “We have had driver
he was 22. As Transport Supervisor at PS Transport,
training in the past, both from truck manufacturers
he is out on the road less often than in the past,
and, in 2002, from an independent company providing
stepping in to cover urgent deliveries and driver
defensive-driving training courses. I had been thinking
absences. This makes him an exception to the normal
about updating this training anyway and the SAFED
PS Transport rule of ‘one-driver-one-truck’. “I drive
scheme seemed like a good way of doing so. The
anything and everything.” says Mr Marrows. “I admit
absence of any direct cost was seen as a bonus.” he
that I was very sceptical about the SAFED training
adds. Initially, four PS Transport drivers went through
before I went through it. But when we got to the
the SAFED course, with three more set to follow. Mr
course it was not what I expected – it was very good!
Ellis has also booked himself a day’s training.
Our drivers have a wide range of experience, but they
all seem to agree that the course was worthwhile.
PS Transport currently spends around £110,000 per
The advice on starting off in a higher gear and then
year on diesel fuel. Mr Ellis is in no doubt that SAFED
skipping gears was particularly useful. I’ve applied the
driver training will help to keep the cost down, but he
same principle to three different vehicles since the
admits to being unable to quantify the savings
course, and it works once you know the truck’s
precisely at present. “The difficulty we have is that
capabilities. I guess every driver gets into bad habits.
the work pattern of our trucks changes dramatically
The SAFED course makes you aware of them, and
from one day to the next.” he explains. “One day a
makes you think about your driving style.”
3
2.2 Lane Group plc
5
2.4 Turners (Soham) Ltd
6
3 Case Studies on
Curtain-Sided Vehicles
7
3.1 Belcher Cammack Transport Ltd
8
equipment now on new Volvo tractors). “We are now
retrofitting these mirrors to all our trucks. One of the
greatest benefits is that the driver’s field of vision is
improved at pelican crossings, where there is always
the risk of a pedestrian nipping into the driver’s blind
spot on the nearside.” adds Mr Cammack.
9
3.2 Kenyon Road Haulage Ltd
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3.4 ACR Logistics
The long list of ACR Logistics customers in sectors “There was a big difference between my first
such as automotive and industrial, consumer, retail, (pre-training) run and the second one. The
and technology includes UK household names such
number of gear changes fell from 100 to around
as BP, J Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer and Ford.
50, and fuel economy improved by over 12%.”
For around nine years, the company has been Kevin Garcia, ACR Logistics
operating a nationwide distribution contract for a
leading supplier of food ingredients to most major
retailers in the UK. ACR Logistics, based at a national View from a Driver’s Perspective
distribution centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield,
Nottinghamshire, deliver to customers located Kevin Garcia, a professional truck driver with nine
between Aberdeen in the north and Plymouth in the years’ experience, drives a DAF CF430 articulated
south west. The contract fleet comprises 19 6x2 twin- truck for ACR Logistics on the food ingredients
steer tractive units plated at 44 tonnes gcw, one 18 contract. The truck’s gearbox is a manual-shift,
tonne gvw two-axle rigid truck, and one 7.5 tonner. synchromesh ZF Ecosplit with 16 forward gears
(a four-speed main box with range-change and splitter).
Using SAFED On his day’s SAFED training, Mr Garcia was most
impressed by what he learned about cutting down on
The 16, 430hp DAF CFs and three 360hp Volvo gear shifting and improving fuel economy at the same
FM10 tractors used on the food ingredients contract time. “There was a big difference between my first (pre-
pull straight-frame and step-frame curtain-sided training) run and the second one,” he recalls. “The
semi-trailers, some of them as high as 4.6m. A typical number of gear changes fell from 100 to around 50,
day’s duty-cycle for one of these articulated vehicles and fuel economy improved by over 12%. I try to keep
will see it starting off at close to the gross weight limit up the same driving style in the course of my work now,
of 44 tonnes, and then making four or five drops. keeping the engine revs low even though it sometimes
Trailers are usually back-loaded. seems that the engine is straining a bit. I’d recommend
the SAFED course to anyone,” he concludes.
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3.5 Clugston Distribution Services
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4 Case Studies on Flat Bed
Vehicles
4.2 AA
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4.1 Winfield Transport (Cannock) Ltd
15
4.2 AA
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5 Case Studies on Tanker and
Tipper Vehicles
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5.1 DW Weaver Group
To avoid the risk of contamination from other food View from a Driver’s Perspective
products, Weaver’s tankers carry nothing but milk, milk
products and water. Tank capacities range from 25,000 John Thomson began his truck-driving career some
to 29,000 litres. Vehicles and equipment are maintained eight years ago with a 7.5-tonne vehicle. Since then,
and repaired in Weaver’s own workshops. The firm he has graduated to heavier rigid vehicles and finally to
prides itself on its ability to remain operational around articulated trucks. Mr Thomson now drives one of DW
the clock, 365-days-a-year, pointing out that milk has to Weaver’s 6x2 Foden tractive units, coupled to a tanker
be collected every day without fail. semi-trailer which is used to collect milk and deliver it
to dairies. The unit’s 405hp Cummins M11 engine
Using SAFED drives through an eight-speed synchromesh gearbox.
The DW Weaver Group is a member of the Freight Mr Thomson remembers his SAFED training day with
Transport Association (FTA), and its AJ Weaver tipper Graham Machin as ‘very enlightening’, with advice on
division is a member of the Road Haulage Association the use of mirrors, block-shifting gears and keeping a
(RHA). It was through the RHA that the firm’s highly low engine speed to save fuel making the strongest
experienced Training Manager, Graham Machin, first impression on Mr Thomson. “I thought I was a good
heard about SAFED. The more he learned about the driver to start with, but now I’m certain that I’m driving
scheme, the more interested he became, and he better and more safely – and I feel less stressed into
completed a two-day course to become a SAFED the bargain. Gear changing is certainly much smoother
instructor. Since then, Mr Machin has SAFED-trained with the engine speed below 1,500rpm.” he says.
around 30 of Weaver’s drivers, and he remains “Graham is a good, straight-talking teacher with an
enthusiastic about the scheme, referring to it as ‘the best encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject.” he affirms.
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5.2 Robert Wiseman Dairies
The Company The nature of the work carried out by Wiseman trucks
means that average fuel consumption figures are
Robert Wiseman sold his South Lanarkshire farmland often high, not least because engines are used to
in 1947 to become a milk distributor in East Kilbride. drive ancillary equipment, such as pumps, power
As the new town grew, so did Robert Wiseman take-offs and refrigeration units. The potential for
Dairies, graduating from a horse and cart to electric saving fuel through driver training is an important
milk floats in the process. In the 1970s, the firm’s consideration for Mr Nicoll and his colleagues, but the
management recognised that doorstep delivery of potential safety benefits are equally important.
milk was in decline, and shifted the company’s focus
to supplying retailers. That foresight has been View from a Driver’s Perspective
rewarded by spectacular growth. Today, there are
more than 1,000 commercial vehicles in the Robert Adam Gibbs is something of a celebrity in the road
Wiseman own-account fleet, mostly articulated and transport industry. In 2003, at the age of 18, he became
rigid trucks, used to distribute milk throughout the UK. the youngest driver in the UK with a C+E vocational
The company now has a 20% share of the UK milk licence (for articulated goods vehicles), whereas the
distribution market. It employs over 3,000 people, normal minimum age limit for a C+E licence is 21. He
roughly half of whom are commercial vehicle drivers, passed his test first time, just one year after joining the
and has an annual turnover of around £400 million. Young Driver Scheme administered by Skills for
Logistics. Mr Gibbs has worked for Wiseman since he
Using SAFED was 17 and is based at the company’s Avonmouth
depot near Bristol. About a month after passing his C+E
A comprehensive series of training programmes was test, Mr Gibbs was amongst a group of Wiseman
well established at Robert Wiseman Dairies even drivers to undergo the one-day SAFED training. “It was
before the SAFED scheme came along. The company a good course to do.” says Mr Gibbs. “I learned a lot
employs ten Driving Standards Agency-approved from it – lots of little things that tied in with my previous
instructors and prides itself on taking learner drivers up training. All the other drivers on the course had been
to and beyond the DSA test standard. Wiseman offers driving much longer than me – for 15 years or more –
continuous professional development of drivers, and so instruction on things like block-shifting was less
including training in the use of sophisticated milk-tanker familiar to them. Their gear-change count dropped
loading and unloading equipment, and in minimising dramatically after training. Mine fell too, but not by so
the risk of articulated vehicle roll-overs. much.”
Wiseman’s Driver Training Manager, George Nicoll, first Mr Gibbs’ normal work routine involves driving a Volvo
heard of SAFED in 2003 and was interested enough to FM12 tractor coupled to a refrigerated tri-axle semi-
put two of the company’s instructors through the trailer, carrying bottled milk to distribution centres in
SAFED instructor’s course straight away. So positive South Wales. The block-shifting technique he learned
was their feedback that the rest of Wiseman’s driving on the SAFED course can be used to good effect on
instructors were subsequently put through the course, the Volvo’s eight-speed synchromesh gearbox. “I
and two are now qualified as senior SAFED instructors. definitely put the technique into practice most of the
To date, about 40 Wiseman drivers have had a day’s time,” he reports, “Not only in the truck, but also when
SAFED training and, according to Mr Nicoll, many I’m driving my car.”
others are ‘queuing up to follow suit’. Mr Nicoll is very
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5.3 Lewis Tankers Ltd
6.1 Fleetmaster
21
6.1 Fleetmaster
Benefits highlighted:
Experience with SAFED
22
Once this long-term thinking is in place and an
7 Sustaining the Benefits organisation has committed itself to creating an
Achieved Under SAFED improvement culture, adopting the following practices
should bring longer-term savings.
As the case studies prove, completing the SAFED
training course can help to achieve a wide variety of Include and Involve all Relevant Personnel
benefits. Companies report significant fuel savings, a
substantial reduction in the number of gear changes, In almost all cases, the first action needed is to include
and noticeable improvements in safety performance and involve the operational staff. All relevant personnel,
immediately after the training. However, to get the most particularly drivers, must feel included in any initiative
from the training, some effort is needed to sustain and should be communicated with at least monthly.
these benefits in the longer term. This section outlines Make them fully aware of the company’s overall
the approach recommended by SAFED. performance, as well as their individual performance,
so that they feel part of a team and can see the part
7.1 Safety Improvements they have played in the company’s achievement.
Remember to acknowledge and celebrate any success
with the whole team.
Most companies recognise the importance of focusing
on safety and have systems in place to investigate
Set Realistic Improvement Targets
incidents or accidents, so that lessons can be learned
to prevent a recurrence.
Examine current fuel efficiency performance and use it
to set realistic improvement targets. A series of ‘bite
Under the SAFED programme, records have shown,
size’ improvements that can be achieved fairly easily is
however, a wide variation in the way companies involve
better than targeting a massive improvement in one hit.
their drivers in their safety programmes and carry out
performance monitoring.
Work with Data
It is recommended that companies:
Collect fuel consumption data, analyse the results
Consider quarterly forums that give drivers and (taking into account other factors, such as new
other operational staff a greater involvement and vehicles, weather conditions and so on), and take
sense of identity with safety issues action according to what is found. These three activities
are essential if any fuel efficiency programme is to
Communicate safety statistics to all operational
staff. At a minimum, the safety key performance achieve and maintain a substantial improvement and
indicators should be displayed around the reach the targeted savings.
workplace
Collect relevant data
7.2 Fuel Efficiency Improvements The data must be accurate and timely. Most
companies have several sources of relevant data:
To achieve a sustainable improvement in fuel efficiency, on-board computers; telematics systems; fuel
companies need to create an environment in which fuel dispensing equipment; fuel card reports; and driver
saving is recognised as an on-going and important daily input sheets.
issue. This will involve the management, monitoring
and commitment of all relevant individuals. As fuel Undertake analysis
costs generally account for around 30% of a company’s
operating costs, any savings will contribute directly to Analysis needs to be carried out at a level appropriate
the overall profitability of the company. This will make to the complexity of the operation.
it worthwhile allocating appropriate resources to the
task of reducing fuel costs. The driver usually has the greatest impact on fuel
efficiency. Unless a vehicle is driven by the same
driver for 100% of the time, then analysis needs to
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separate driver performance from the performance of ideas. Some particularly relevant publications include:
the vehicle. Understanding and improving driver
The Fleet Performance Management Tool, and
performance is one of the keys to achieving lasting fuel
its accompanying CD-ROM
efficiency.
Fuel Saving Tips – your essential pocket guide to
A monthly average mpg figure for each vehicle will not saving fuel and money
suffice, as this will hide all the compensating errors and
swings that occur during the course of the month. For details on how to get hold of these and other
transport-related publications, please refer to Section 8,
Analysis of performance on a daily basis is needed to ‘Moving On’.
fully understand the performance of the vehicle and the
driver. Consider an incentive scheme
Once a sound and complete analysis routine is Those new to data collection and analysis may learn
established, move into the action phase. Draw up a list from the following examples of data collected from
of possible actions and cost each one. Look to companies that have received SAFED training.
implement the ‘no-cost’ and ‘low-cost’ actions first.
Figure 1 shows the benefits of SAFED training as
Where significant cost is involved, try to test potential measured for six drivers. Although there are variations in
improvement measures before committing to the total the mpg achieved by each driver, all record
cost. It may be possible to try out a measure on one improvements following training.
vehicle that analysis has highlighted as having a poor
performance before rolling out the idea across the The mpg values in Figure 1 come from average fuel
whole fleet. A controlled test is important in assessing consumption based on a number of odometer and fuel
the likely benefits an action may bring. Make sure that filling readings. For example, the fuel data collected for
data collection and analysis are adequate to enable driver 1 are shown in Figure 2, and show how an
comparison between a test case and the control group. average figure hides the compensating errors and
swings.
Look beyond the driver
Partial tank filling will play a significant role in the rise and
Although the driver has a major impact on fuel fall of the mpg figures. Collecting and analysing more
efficiency, there are many non-driver actions that have detailed data allow better understanding of the
the potential to improve fuel efficiency. Free Freight performance of the vehicle and the driver.
Best Practice publications can help in the hunt for
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Figure 1 Example fuel saving benefits for six drivers and their vehicles
19.0
17.5
Average mpg
17.0
16.5
16.0
15.5
15.0
14.5
14.0
1 2 3 4 5 6
Driver number
Figure 2 Data collected for driver 1, showing variability in mpg per tank fill
20
mpg
15
10
0
1 5 10 15 20 25 30
Tank fill
The standard deviation in the apparent mpg provides a SAFED training has been sorted into increasing order
useful aid in monitoring performance. Base-line mpg data of mpg. Different vehicles, different routes, different
for 241 vehicles from the same company record wide operating profiles and changes in the weather will all
variations in standard deviation, from as low as 0.69 mpg influence the base-line mpg. In Figure 3, the data for
to values higher than the average mpg. In Figure 2, the after SAFED training show variable benefits with
standard deviations were 2.66 mpg and 3.08 mpg for respect to fuel economy, where notable mpg increases
before and after SAFED training respectively. High in some cases were offset by decreases in others.
standard deviations need to be investigated, to determine Overall, there was a net gain of 0.21 mpg for this set of
the underlying causes, particularly if company policy is to data which indicates there is potential for further gains
routinely fill the fuel tank. by focusing on the underlying reasons for those data
sets that are disappointing.
There can be a wide variation in fuel consumption
between individual drivers and vehicles. In Figure 3
(see overleaf), the base-line data relating to before
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Figure 3 Variation in average mpg for individual drivers and vehicles
30
25
20
mpg
15
10 Before training
(average mpg 9.67)
After training
5
(average mpg 9.88)
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Driver number in ascending order of base-line mpg
20
15
mpg
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Pre-training data collection Week number Post-training data collection
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8 Moving On
There are many sources of further information that can 8.3 Government Information
help you take the next steps towards SAFED training
and maximising the resulting benefits.
As well as the Freight Best Practice programme, help
is available from other Government sources.
8.1 SAFED
Department for Transport
Funded Training Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SAFED training for drivers and for training instructors is
SW1P 4DR
available on a funded basis in England in the
aggregates and van sectors. The training is sponsored
by the Department for Transport until March 2007. To Tel: 020 7944 8300
experience the benefits of SAFED training on a funded Web site: www.dft.gov.uk
basis sign up as soon as possible by contacting one of
the following organisations who are appointed to
manage each specific scheme.
8.4 Driver Training and Safety
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Freight Best Practice publications, including those listed below, can be obtained
FREE of charge by calling the Hotline on 0845 877 0 877. Alternatively, they
can be downloaded from the website www.freightbestpractice.org.uk
SAFED for HGVs: A Guide to Safe and Fuel Fleet Performance Management Tool
Efficient Driving for HGVs This PC-based spreadsheet tool has been
This guide outlines the elements of the Safe and designed to help fleet operators improve their
Fuel Efficient Driving (SAFED) scheme and operational efficiency using Key Performance
explains the content of the one-day SAFED Indicators to measure and manage performance.
training course. The KPIs include costs, operational, service,
compliance and maintenance.
September 2006.