FLEET Services GB (FSGB) has introduced its new Achieve programme – the result of two decades of focus on road safety combined with reducing fleet operating costs.

The Achieve programme of driver and fleet management services covers an array of areas including driver management; crash management; maintenance management; management services and fleet service partnerships.

As part of FSGB’s technology focus Achieve is available in app form allowing companies and drivers to communicate in real time via notifications, prompts, reminders and alerts.

The app has already been piloted by a number of fleet operators with LiveWest – one of the largest providers of affordable homes in the south west of England – the first to ‘go live’ with the Achieve programme and app integration across its 350-strong fleet.

The driver app offers the ability to arrange bookings for servicing, maintenance and repairs, including tyres; the facility to report an accident and breakdown, using GPS enabled location services which links directly to the Fleet Service GB Support Team; update mileages in real time; upload images, capturing accident and/or vehicle condition; vehicle management options; and a bespoke check sheet for vehicle condition reporting.

With fleet of 350 vans driven by a wide range of skilled tradesmen, including 54 car-derived vans driven by supervisors, surveyors and housing officers LiveWest also added onboard cameras to some of its vehicles to support the Achieve data.

Achieve Driver Management was at the core of the proposition, which saw LiveWest adopt the driver app to enable its drivers to carry out daily vehicle inspections on their vans and communicate with the Fleet Service GB fleet team. It can access its fleet dashboard which gives the company a real time overview of its fleet activity.

Paul Ayris, fleet manager at LiveWest, said: “The Achieve programme was needed as our fleet was growing quite rapidly. It was time to take driver and vehicle management to the next level and make sure the fleet operation became even more professional.

“It was also important to put the driver at the heart of the programme as they are the company’s brand ambassadors that represent LiveWest daily.

“Achieve has enabled us to ensure we do exactly that by being able to measure and manage driver’s behaviour and support them through live reporting it creates great camaraderie and friendly competition and pride.”

Through 24/7 continuous monitoring, LiveWest now has a detailed behavioural overview of every driver and can implement targeted solutions as required.

The result of this has seen the number of driver ‘events’ reported through each vehicle’s telematics significantly reduce. Incident rates also halved during a 12-month period, with at fault accidents reduced by 40%. Driver related damage costs also fell by 50% during the same period.

At the same time, the effective management of service, maintenance and repair (SMR) and the achievement of fleet maintenance cost savings also increased.

Geoffrey Bray, chairman of FSGB, said: “The whole idea of managing the driver is not new. Having spent a lifetime involved in the fleet sector and witnessed the introduction of the corporate manslaughter act in 2007, there have been a number of attempts to address the issues faced.

“However, until now, nothing has quite got to the real heart of the matter.

“When the Fleet Service GB journey began, we sat down with a blank sheet of paper to create a fully integrated range of driver and vehicle management services designed to provide fleets with a management tool unlike anything available in the market.

“This dream is now a reality – our Achieve programmes delivers, and in many cases exceeds, expectations presenting us with significant opportunities.

“LiveWest has proven that encouraging drivers to respect their vehicles goes hand-in-hand with respecting the environments in which they work.”

FSGB fleet manages more than 12,000 cars and commercial vehicles and drivers registered across its five major services: maintenance management, accident management, risk management, acquisition and disposal, and truck management.