Central Coast Council has been awarded the 2022 Fleet Safety Award at the Australasian Fleet Management Association (AfMA) Annual Networking Dinner & Fleet Awards Ceremony.
The award was received on behalf of the Council by Unit Manager, Plant and Fleet, Peter Armour at the Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney in front of hundreds of attendees.
Central Coast Council, Director of Corporate Affairs and Chief Financial Officer, Natalia Cowley, said: “Achieving this award is very special for our Council, as it is clear recognition that the systems and processes implemented for our drivers are not only innovative for local government, but of a high standard, aimed to reduce risk and support a safer and more accountable system of work and driving culture. This award is something that we are all extremely proud of.”
The Central Coast Council’s dedication to establishing a safer and more efficient fleet meant implementing a wide range of initiatives including incorporating GPS and its many uses into their fleet assets including driver identification, pre-start checks, and defect reporting.
“The incorporation of GPS into the fleet was an important part of Council’s fleet safety strategy, as it enabled us to begin managing fleet in a more proactive manner than at any time in our Council’s past with ability to easily produce safety reports in a timely manner.”
“Council also worked closely with our Vehicle Sub-Committee during 2020 to develop data usage terms of reference to safeguard against privacy concerns and were regularly kept abreast of the program roll out.”
Driver training and a rigorous review process had also been a key part of the Council’s safety strategy. They have conducted GPS driver and system user training for over 800 staff members, and they continue to implement driver compliance and vehicle utilisation reviews which are then reported to stakeholders.
Furthermore, the Council had also implemented systems to deliver significant changes in the safety of their fleet including new work order management systems and defect triaging processes, key access systems, centralised pool car management, and electronic vehicle booking.
“Whilst it is difficult to isolate just one favourite from our range of safety initiatives across the past 3-4 years, having the ability to report to our stakeholders from multiple systems means on a scheduled or adhoc basis that we are actually ‘managing our fleet’ and not letting ‘the fleet manage us’, Ms Cowley said.
Among the Central Coast Council’s key achievements in fleet safety include:
- Implemented GPS into 620 tool of trade fleet assets
- Implemented crash cameras into 100 trucks with GVM greater than 10T
- Implemented GPS-based electronic driver identification, pre-start check and defect reporting processes
- Eliminated paper-based pre-start check and defect reporting processes
- Conducted GPS driver and system user training to over 800 staff
- Implemented monthly driver compliance and vehicle utilisation reviews / reporting to stakeholders
- Implemented new work order management system and defect triaging processes
- Implemented key access system for heavy vehicles and plant
- Centralised pool car management and implemented electronic vehicle booking and key access system
- 49% reduction in driver-at-fault as a % of accident claims measured over 3-years
- 47% reduction in accident rate per million km measured over 3-years
- 30% reduction in average cost per accident claim measured over 3-years
- 21% reduction in distances travelled measured over 3-years
- 16% improvement to driver pre-start check completions measured over 13 months
