BWB Consulting tackles its grey fleet issues thanks to DAVIS

Nottingham-based building, infrastructure and environmental consultancy, BWB Consulting, has dramatically reduced its road risk and cut the man hours and administration burden associated with managing its grey fleet by introducing the DAVIS platform from Licence Check.

The 380-employee multi-disciplinary consultancy has around 235 drivers, the overwhelming majority of which are grey fleet as they are using their own vehicles on company business. It also operates a further 25 company assigned vehicles and pool cars, the majority of which are fully electric from a variety of manufacturers.

Prior to changing to the cloud-based Driver And Vehicle Information Solution, DAVIS, the company used manually completed spread sheets to try and keep check of the driving records of their employees.

“Switching to the DAVIS solution has been a Godsend,” said BWB Corporate Operations Manager, Alex Jones. “Before that, the amount of time and manhours we used to carry out the relevant checks on our drivers was immense.”

By using the fully integrated licence checking and grey fleet modules from DAVIS, BWB is able to define and determine the types and frequency of checks required – which, for licence checks, is every six months for low risk drivers and every three months for high risk.

Checks include the number of points on drivers’ licences, whether business insurance cover is being secured, the correct rate of VED is being paid and whether MOTs are carried out at the appropriate intervals.

To verify the condition of their vehicles, drivers are also asked to complete a regular roadworthiness check within DAVIS – all initiatives designed to help BWB manage its occupational and reputational road risk more effectively and to meet its duty of care to its employees and others.

“For any drivers with nine points on their licences, we are also evaluating DAVIS E-learning courses in hazard awareness and perception training to help them manage their driving risk more effectively,” said QHSE Systems Manager, Stephanie Relf.

Stephanie said that the DAVIS service ticked all the boxes that BWB was considering when implementing an effective, automated grey fleet management system.

“Another advantage from our perspective is that there is no major upfront investment required. We are charged on a pay-as-you-go basis according to the number of checks carried out which was perfect for us having a relatively small but growing fleet,” she said.

BWB also subscribes to Fleet File within DAVIS to further manage its fleet risk, which gives access to a range of services including the management of fleet vehicle risk and compliance.

DAVIS Fleet File is soon to be relaunched as DAVIS Fleet – a new, cost-effective platform which provides data, analysis and trend reporting plus a facility to manage the lifecycles of leased and owned fleet vehicles.

“As a DAVIS client, BWB has been able to manage its grey fleet far more efficiently and effectively, and in a fully automated way, minimising manual tasks and admin,” said Licence Check Managing Director, Keith Allen.

“And, as Fleet File users, they will be automatically upgraded free of charge to DAVIS Fleet, our powerful new analytical fleet management solution within DAVIS which launches at the beginning of February.

“DAVIS Fleet provides an unrivalled depth of insight and fleet intelligence into a whole host of relevant fleet management issues, through its consolidation of big data, smart fleet analysis and highly visual dashboards, and will make for even more effective fleet management going forward,” he added.