Acklams-coaches-bus-greenroad

Acklams Coaches

Passenger Transport - Customer Story

Using GreenRoad, Acklams Coaches has reduced fuel costs by 23% while driving down accidents and insurance premiums.

THE CHALLENGE

Alan Acklam’s grandfather Bernard started Acklams Coaches in 1952. With Alan’s father Paul as managing director, the company concentrates on coach private hire and contract work as well as bus services in and around Beverley and Driffield.

At the time fuel prices were skyrocketing as well as premiums due to the nature of passenger transport what Acklam Coaches wished to accomplish as a result of evaluating how a driver safety program and technology could provide was to reduce fuel consumption, insurance premiums and vehicle wear and tear in order to improve their bottom line. To accomplish this, Acklams Coaches wanted to signed up with a technology provider to help reduce insurance costs, as well as drive down accident and fuel costs. After a lengthy search and evaluation, Acklams found that GreenRoad was just the solution firm needed.

The Solution

After rolling out the driver safety program across the Acklams fleet, Alan Acklam, Director for Acklams Coaches, admits that it was initially difficult to persuade some company drivers to accept the constant presence of GreenRoad. That changed however when a bonus system designed, with the help of GreenRoad’s Performance Advisors, to reward drivers who remain free of own-fault accidents was introduced and they realized that GreenRoad’s advice could earn them extra income.”

“As a consequence we’ve halved the number of minor bumps and bangs,” said Alan Acklam, Director at Acklams Coaches. “Furthermore, whereas our average GreenRoad driver risk score was 20 it has now fallen to just 5, with every one of our drivers in the green sector.” “The bonus is set each month – to get it drivers also have to achieve a risk score of 10 or less – with an annual bonus if our insurance claims total no more than 30% of our annual premium,” Acklam explained. “If we achieve that target, then we get a premium rebate.”

There are always people touting new ways to improve safety and reduce fuel, but when we heard about CoachSave we felt we had finally found a solution that offered tangible benefits – improved passenger comfort and safety, reduced fuel and lower premiums.

Paul Acklam, Managing Director, Acklams Coaches.

The Result

In addition to Acklams remarkable safety improvements and subsequent insurance savings, the company has seen significant fuel cost savings. Acklams runs a number of 51-seater Plaxton Elite coaches and they’ve seen their average fuel consumption improve from 8.5mpg to 11mpg. This represents a 23% improvement. Organizationally the overall fleet fuel consumption has dropped 10%.

Acklam also found an unexpected benefit from GreenRoad. “We use GreenRoad to track the whereabouts of our vehicles and that is proving to be invaluable,” Alan said. “It means that if a customer is waiting for a coach, and we can see the driver is going to be late, then we can ring them and let them know.”