Abbey finds the upside of lockdown

DEEP IN DATA

COVID-19 • ABBEY LOGISTICS AND MICROLISE HAVE TAKEN A DEEP DIVE INTO VEHICLE METRICS TO SEE HOW THE GAINS ACHIEVED DURING THE LOCKDOWN MIGHT BE MAINTAINED

THE WIDESPREAD LOCKDOWN and travel restrictions imposed around the world in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have caused severe problems for many, but have also offered some relief in terms of cleaner air and quieter roads. As thoughts turn towards how the crisis will affect businesses and individuals in the long run, after the crisis has passed, it is worth looking at ways in which those benefits might be kept secure for the future.

One company that has been looking at this question is Abbey Logistics, a UK-based haulier specialising in the movement of foodgrade liquids in bulk by road tanker. It has noticed an improvement in efficiency during the lockdown, as CEO Steve Granite explains: “We have all been trading in incredibly challenging circumstances, but as a result of quieter roads, we have seen an improvement to customer service and savings in repair and maintenance and an increase in MPG as well as nearly 6 per cent increase in the average speed of our fleet. This means the fleet is doing more with less and our assets are much more productive and require less repair and maintenance thanks to more consistent driving.”

In order to investigate further, Abbey began a project with Microlise, a provider of telematics and real-time journey management solutions. Its Data Science and Research team, a highly skilled multi-disciplinary group that harnesses the latest tools, methodologies and advanced analytics techniques to extract and interpret data, was put on the case. Granite says the idea of the project was to get a better understanding of the productivity improvements during the lockdown and examine how they could be sustained when traffic and congestion increases once again.

The project involved an analysis of Abbey’s journey metrics for its fleet of 400 trucks and 550 bulk liquid and powder trailers, covering the 30 days prior to and the 30 days immediately following the imposition of lockdown in the UK. The key results showed that: - Average speed increased group-wide by 5.7 per cent to 38.8 mph - Miles per gallon of fuel (MPG) increased by 2.6 per cent - Carbon dioxide emissions reduced by almost 4 per cent - Driving behaviour and performance also improved, with a reduction in high revving and engine idling, and an improvement in ‘greenband driving’ and the use of cruise control.

Microlise went further, analysing other recent data it had access to on heavy goods and light commercial vehicles. It found two stand-out metrics across this group: MPG increased by between 6 and 7 per cent, and there was a 37 per cent reduction in unsafe driving behaviours. “For a fleet owner of any size, the capital cost savings to be realised across these two areas alone would be significant,” it notes.

ABBEY CEO STEVE GRANITE (OPPOSITE) SAYS

WHERE TO NOW? The question now is: what learnings can be taken from the analysis of this data? Furthermore, are there any practical steps that the haulage sector and government could take that would allow those positive commercial and environmental benefits to continue after the lockdown is ended?

“Across almost every key metric of vehicle performance, traffic movement, driver safety and performance, fleet utilisation, repair and maintenance and customer service, we have registered positive results,” Granite says. “Increasing average speed and miles per gallon contributes to significant cost savings for fleet operators of any size. When you combine this with improvements across driving behaviour and environmental impact, the results are compelling.”

Granite adds: “We have a perfect opportunity to rethink our operations model and do things differently. Longer delivery windows and more night-time deliveries provide for a more cost-effective and reliable customer service. We can also support our professional drivers to perform at their best, reducing stress level and keeping them safer while minimising road traffic incidents and any resulting asset damage.

“If we are prepared to shake-up our post-Covid 19 version of ‘normal’, we will all reap the rewards. We partnered with Microlise to take as much of the guesswork out of our business analysis as possible. We now have concrete intelligence that we can and should act upon. It is clear that data will continue to play a key role in supporting our sector as it returns to a new normal and it makes commercial and environmental sense to act upon this to support hauliers and come out of this crisis with stronger and more effective operating models.” www.abbeylogisticsgroup.com www.microlise.com