Contract Cleaner radically improves driver behaviour and reduces traffic incidents with Verizon Connect

Irish cleaning services firm Cagney Contract Cleaning implemented GPSfleet tracking from Verizon Connect to improve driving habits and reduce traffic accidents and reported incidents. Since installing the fleet management system, there has been a sea change in driver behaviour and incidents have reduced vastly, which has helped reduce insurance premiums.

Family owned firm Cagney Contract Cleaning provides cleaning services to the insurance and financial services sector, large office blocks, property and facility management companies, as well as pharmaceuticals and food production companies. Employing approximately 380 full and part-time staff, the company operates a fleet of 16 vehicles to service locations throughout Ireland.

The top priority for the company’s Director Garvan Cagney is to provide a safe working environment for his staff and those that they encounter during their daily work: “We have full training programmes in place and believe that by communicating with our staff on a regular basis that we create an inclusive community that delivers an excellent service.”

However as the firm’s fleet grew, Mr Cagney was alerted that the number of accidents and reported incidents were extremely high. Mr Cagney has always reminded his drivers that while driving, they are representing and promoting his company; if they are driving badly or not being courteous, it reflects badly on the company.

“We needed to reign in our drivers a little,” explained Mr Cagney, “not necessarily by overtly reprimanding bad behaviour, more by implementing a programme to change attitudes and realise positive improvements.” He implemented a two-point programme – the first was to install a GPS fleet tracking system and the second to display ‘How’s my driving?’ bumper stickers.

While selecting the GPS tracking system, Mr Cagney’s main priority wasto find a system that offers a driver’s behaviour tool, which monitors vehicles throughout the day and would alert him instantly of excessive speeds. As the firm has no scheduled routes and no specific start and finish times, he wanted to be able to track and trace each vehicle and the driver’s identification to provide proof of service to his customers – a system that could be displayed on a big screen in the main office that all drivers could see. Finally, as they were using two separate systems to manage fuel, Mr Cagney wanted the fleet management system to streamline fuel management.

Mr Cagney regularly uses the Verizon Connect Dashboard to view key metrics of his fleet’s performance such as speeding, idling time, mileage and more. He has set a Red Flag Alert for whenever the 120kmph speed threshold is exceeded. “Having the ability to monitor driver behaviour and be alerted if there are red flags is priceless,” said Mr Cagney.

“Since installing Verizon Connect the improvements in our drivers’ attitude and behaviour have been immense,”said Cagney. “With Verizon ConnectLive Fleet, we can view the exact location of every vehicle in our fleet in realtime. We can give turn-by-turn directions to our drivers, should they ever be lost. We can even instruct them where best to park.”

“Verizon Conect provides a rapid return on a minimum investment,” concluded Cagney. “We have reduced our fuel bills, even though the price of fuel has increased by 40% over the past three years. Our insurance premiums have dropped substantially with the rapid reduction in the number of accidents and incidents occurring. Whenever we demonstrate the Verizon Connect fleet management system, we can give proof of service and, more importantly, have won new business by being able to give assurances and to show professionalism– in our current economic climate, that’s nothing to be sniffed at!”