Pitted against 20 000 drivers, participating globally across 20 countries, South African Marshall Hendricks – a driver at Imperial Logistics on the Fast ‘n Fresh contract for Woolworths – has done it again. He has taken first place in the International FleetBoard Drivers’ League Competition, recording no less than a 9,95 out of a possible 10-point score.
Using FleetBoard has proven not only that good driver behaviour but also immense cost-saving benefits to operators
Using FleetBoard as a real-time driver behaviour monitoring system has proven not only that good driver behaviour can be achieved no matter what the operating conditions, but time and time again has also provided immense cost-saving benefits to operators.
Hendricks has been driving for Imperial Fast ’n Fresh since 2008, and at present, he is driving the Mercedes-Benz trucks used for hauling fruit cargoes from the Bosman’s farms. Taking great pride in his driving skills, Hendricks and some of his co-worker drivers even have an in-house challenge going on about who drives the best on a day-to-day basis.
The Imperial Fast ‘n Fresh fleet operate Mercedes-Benz Axor 1832, Actros 2650 and Actros 2644 units, hauling 16- ton payloads on long-haul and distribution routes.
Pieter Saayman, Imperial’s contract manager overseeing the Woolworths contract for Imperial, is a true convert when it comes to the value added by the FleetBoard system.
“Our litre/100km fuel usage is phenomenally frugal. Furthermore, our savings on vehicle spares and repairs is extremely low.”
FleetBoard monitors driver behaviour regarding braking, speeding, off-route driving, over-idling, over-revving and fuel tank levels, among
others. Tracking with FleetBoard makes drivers shine!
The system is loaded via an App on cell phones or tablets, enabling the drivers to also monitor themselves. This is besides the 10-minute interval reports generated for the operator at the home base or depot. Cargo security is thus ensured with virtually immediate alerts in cases of hijacking, breakdowns or accidents.
Cargo security is thus ensured with virtually immediate alerts in cases of hijacking, breakdowns or accidents.
There is no possibility of cheating the system as a vehicle fitted with the FleetBoard system will not start without the driver inserting his personal driver card into a special “log-in” box on the truck.
“Naturally, we train our drivers well and routinely correct bad habits,” says a proud Dennis Jolliffe, driver trainer at the Imperial Fast ‘n Fresh depot in Montagu Gardens.
We have no qualms with naming and shaming poor driver behaviour.” In their driver training programme the company includes elements such as foot pedal movement, footbrake pressure, using the retarder and use of the inertia through the Voith retarders on the vehicles, as well as the use of the exhaust brake.
“Small details, maybe, but great when it comes to cost savings,” says Jolliffe. Hendricks not only bagged the number one spot internationally, but co-worker driver Pieter Adriaanse took second position overall with a score of 9,92.
The friendly rivalry amongst the Cape-based drivers of Imperial Fast ‘n Fresh has proven its value repeatedly with regard to great cost-saving, good uptime and maintaining vehicle integrity.