Drive down your costs
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By taking an overall business view rather than just selling trucks, Mercedes-Benz is adding value for its customers
Words: Barry Dew How can transport operators maximise their proits in challenging times? The key, argues Sam Whittaker, Mercedes-Benz UK Truck sales and marketing director, is to commit to the three Ts: telematics; training; and teamwork.
“At Mercedes-Benz, we produce some of the inest, most fuel-eficient vehicles on the market, but it’s still essential to ensure they are being driven as eficiently as possible,” he says. “To do that, you need to employ the best drivers, then engage with and invest in them.” Mercedes works closely with telematics specialist Daimler FleetBoard – they do, after all, share the same parent company, although as most operators know, FleetBoard’s hardware is also compatible with virtually every other make and model of truck. FleetBoard offers a range of internet-based services
covering vehicle and driver management. Its system ▲ Sam Whittaker believes analyses driver performance against a range of criteria in employing and investing and pinpoints areas such as over-revving, harsh braking, in the best drivers
idling, speeding and ‘green band’ driving, in which improvements can be made.
“FleetBoard allows operators to improve driving techniques, which has a direct impact on the proitability of the business,” continues Whittaker. “This technology is delivering some spectacular results. Improvements in fuel performance of between 7% and 10% are typical. Even more impressive is the reduction in accident damage costs, which are in the range of 40% to 70%, and result purely from the vehicle being driven more carefully.” One in four new trucks bearing the three-pointed star is now itted with FleetBoard, and every tractor unit sold on a Mercedes-Benz Financial Services contract hire package comes with telematics hardware and three months’ vehicle management services at no extra cost, which has proved to be a success.
On training, too, Whittaker says the key to achieving increased productivity and eficiency is to treat drivers as valued professionals. So for the new Driver CPC rules, under which all truck drivers must have completed 35 hours of approved training by 10 September 2014, he urges operators to resist going down the ‘tick box’ route that merely requires attendance on a course.
Instead, they should seek to achieve genuine, tangible beneits from the training that all drivers must undergo and gain a business beneit from their investment. “Mercedes now leads the market as a provider of Driver CPC courses,” he says. “This is practical training that represents excellent value for money and makes a positive contribution to the operator’s bottom line.”
He concludes: “Mercedes is not interested in the ‘quick deal’, but in developing long-term partnerships with our customers. We are passionate about delivering great service, so we work hand-in-hand with operators to maximise the eficiency and proitability of their businesses. It’s about teamwork, and together with telematics and training, it can make all the difference to a customer’s bottom line.” n