Home delivery company, Hermes, is in the vanguard of cutting road deaths and injuries after introducing a range of safe-driving measures that have contributed to a £1 million cost saving in the 12 months to April 2010.
The catalyst for the financial savings and a string of other employee health and safety benefits is the Hermes Driving School, which plays a critical role in ensuring that the company’s 480 employed drivers and 163 agency drivers meet its industry-leading safe driving standards.
The focus on safe-driving in 2009/10 when compared with 2008/9 saw a:
• 109% improvement in accident-free days per vehicle from 216 days to 434 days resulting in significant reductions in vehicle downtime and the cost of vehicle replacement
• A 47% improvement in the accident rate – including minor bumps and scratches – per vehicle from 1.44 to 0.75
• A 41.8% (259) reduction in the number of recorded accidents from 620 to 361 across the commercial vehicle fleet
• A 33.5% (£240,000) cut in the cost of incidents
The reduction in the number of vehicle-related crashes and their severity was recorded against a background of the size of the light goods vehicle and HGV fleet increasing 11% from 430 vehicles to 479 and the number of days of vehicle use rising 16.9% from 134,160 to 156,775. In addition to the commercial vehicle fleet, Leeds-based Hermes also operates 183 company cars.
Simultaneously, the number of insurance claims related to vehicle damage have reduced 60% and UK insurance premiums for the business dropped 10% in the last 10 months.
It is that focus on safety through the Driving School, which was opened in 2004, and the subsequent reduction in vehicle-related crashes and resulting financial savings that has seen Hermes become the 43rd company to achieve ‘business champion’ status from the Government-backed ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign, which is managed by RoadSafe.
There are an estimated up to 200 road deaths and serious injuries a week resulting from crashes involving at work drivers, and more employees are killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads while driving on behalf of their employer than in any other work-related activity.
The safety drive has been led by Hermes chief executive Carole Woodhead who said: “We are delighted that our concerted focus on at-work driving safety has been recognised by the campaign.
“Hermes has successfully achieved year-on-year growth in volume, revenue, market share, and profit. This success stems largely from a change in management culture which addressed, among many other factors, the need to manage those driving on behalf of the business more thoroughly and to scrutinise the costs associated with them more effectively. The catalyst of change has been the Driving School, which has delivered enormous benefits for the Hermes business.
“A knock-on effect from the improved accident rate per vehicle and the increase in the number of accident free days per vehicle was the significant reduction in vehicle downtime and the cost of vehicle replacement across the fleet. This, in turn, had a significant impact on the service to Hermes customers because it was possible to make improvements to client delivery and collection times.
“We ensure that all drivers are made aware of the impact they deliver to business results through the improvements in reducing incidents involving Hermes vehicles and improving their fuel efficiency.”
Hermes offers clients, including some of the UK’s most successful retailers such as Next Directory, QVC and Lands’ End, a dedicated business to consumer residential delivery solution, specifically designed to meet the demands of the European retail, mail order and online shopping market.
