Watching the road.
Innovative use of video surveillance increases safety and reduces the environmental impact of Elis’ fleet.
Mission
Elis, formerly known as Berendsen, is one of the largest operators of linen and textile services in Europe, supplying everything from heavy duty workwear and hospital garments to bedding for luxury hospitality services and washroom products. To support its 750-strong fleet of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and light commercial vehicles (LCVs), Elis’ vehicle fleet managers wanted to improve the company’s environmental footprint while also increasing its road safety record, which, it was hoped would result in a reduced number of false insurance claims against its employees. It planned to achieve this by utilising intelligent video and telematics data to enhance driver training, providing personalised feedback on conduct such as excessive acceleration and braking, as well as road incidents.
Solution
Working with Axis partner Observit, Elis has combined an award-winning telematics system with integrated video feeds that can record a full 360 degree view of the exterior and interior of vehicles at all times. Observit installed AXIS F44 and AXIS F41 Main Unit rugged network video systems into the cab of 550 vehicles, with a mixture of wide-angle cameras including AXIS F1005-E and AXIS F1035 HD fisheye lenses. The innovative set-up also provides two-way audio capability and enough local storage for a month of video footage.
Result
The video enhances telematics data with visual information about driver behaviour. This has enabled Elis to increase the safety and enhance the fuel efficiency of its fleet with crude measures around braking and acceleration now being explored in context to improve feedback to drivers. Conduct that either increases fuel consumption or was considered unsafe is being eradicated, with the installation resulting in a 12.7% increase in fuel efficiency across the fleet, and a decrease in driving related incidents by 58%. Drivers, meanwhile, welcome the new system because they can rely on the intelligence it provides to prove fault in the case of accidents or items taken during the loading or unloading of their vehicle.
With this great system I am in continuous and effective control of my vehicles and drivers at all times.
Elis is a £2.5bn outsourcing company that delivers a complete textile rental and laundry service to thousands of businesses all over Europe and has operations in 16 countries across the continent. Its clients include major manufacturers, hospitals and police forces, and to make sure its vital daily deliveries are made on time it maintains a fleet of 750 HGVs and LCVs in the UK alone.
“To help improve the fuel efficiency and safety of our fleet, we had been working with a previous supplier to install telematics systems into our vehicles”, said Peter Kelly, Group Transport Compliance and Optimisation Manager at Elis, but the firm was unhappy with the results. The data generated was difficult to understand, and updates to the system were slow, leaving Elis concerned it may be unable to maintain its compliance standards going forward.
To address the issue, Elis set itself strict targets that a replacement system would have to meet, establishing KPIs around total cost of ownership, CO2 emissions, supplier relationships, safety and compliance and management information.
How IP video is adding value to telematics
In-vehicle telematics are just the start of the system designed by Observit for Elis. Managing Director Gavin Urtel says that the use of wide angle cameras from AXIS F Series gives a complete 360 degree view of the vehicle exterior, which can be stored for up to four weeks on AXIS F44 and AXIS F41 Main Units. This adds vital contextual information to the raw telematics data about speed, acceleration and braking, enabling smarter management decisions based on complete knowledge about a driving event.
“When it comes to helping improve driver behaviour, managers can review footage with drivers to discuss exactly what caused the need for hard braking or acceleration, helping to address issues in a positive manner,” advised Gavin Urtel, Managing Director at Observit.
“Managers can look at very specific issues that need addressing. One driver may struggle with fuel economy, another with harsh breaking, and individual targets for improvement can be agreed.” Furthermore, the whole process can be automated: drivers have access to a log and performance scoring system at the end of each journey, but when the telematics system registers a severe incident, it starts to generate an instant report with linked video footage.
“This report is sent to the relevant manager and forms the basis of a driver debrief that looks at the reasons for the driving event and allows appropriate action to be taken,” adds Peter Kelly. “If, for example, the event occurred as the result of evasive action to avoid an accident, the camera footage would support the driver. Otherwise, advice or training might be offered to help improve driving performance or, in the case of continuous infringements, disciplinary action can be taken.”
Immediate impact on false insurance claims
Having auditable video evidence of any incident also helps with insurance investigations. “From a driver’s perspective, the cameras are protecting them against false claims,” Peter Kelly added. “Our vehicles tend to be involved in four or five incidents a month which result in insurance claims, and previously they tended to be settled in favour of the other driver regardless of who’s fault it was. Now we can send a direct link to footage straight to our insurers: no more sketches, no more chasing people for written accounts. We know what happened, can prove what happened, close the case and move on.”
In addition, explains Gavin Urtel, the system features two-way audio so that drivers can communicate with their operators as soon as a critical incident is detected. The results are incontrovertible. Elis has also substantially reduced fleet operating costs after seeing a 12.7% improvement in fuel efficiency and has boosted safety by virtually eradicating incidences of speeding and seen a decrease in incidences of inefficient or unsafe driving by 58%.
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