Plumbase improves safety and efficiency with Trakm8

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Plumbase has installed Trakm8 telematics devices in 220 company cars. The company doesn’t track the vehicles – it solely uses the devices to monitor the safety and efficiency of their drivers.

Plugging straight into a car’s on-board diagnostics port, the device can monitor higher-risk and fuel-thirsty behaviours such as over-revving, harsh braking, sharp cornering and speeding.

Drivers receive a percentage score for each journey, with a high score indicating smoother and safer driving. Each driver can view their own score in the Trakm8 Drive app; while the transport manager can view all scores. Within three months, the average score across the company rose from a creditable 72% to an impressive 84%. Plumbase has now established a Driver of the Month competition to incentivise employees to continue increasing their scores.

Nigel Grainger, Transport Manager for Plumbase, said: “An increase of 12 percentage points is really pleasing, as it demonstrates that our company car drivers are fully engaged with this initiative. We are also getting reports of much-improved fuel economy, meaning that we are saving money and reducing emissions from our car fleet as well.”

Plumbase is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of plumbing and heating products, with a network of over 150 branches across the country. Because driver behaviour analytics are proven to reduce road risk, the company was able to negotiate a reduction in its insurance premium for implementing the technology.

The company chose Trakm8 as it was able to provide a plug-n-play solution for the company cars, using their on-board diagnostics (OBD) ports. Furthermore, Plumbase already had hardwired Trakm8 units in all of its 200 delivery vehicles, providing a comprehensive telematics solution including vehicle tracking, driver behaviour and driver identification.

Nigel added: “One of the advantages of Trakm8 is that the reports are easy to run, which makes our job easier, too.”