Six councils from around Nottingham have joined a vehicle consortium in an effort to cut unnecessary cost and reduce administration hours.
Councils in Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark & Sherwood and Rushcliffe are part of the Nottingham Vehicle Consortium, which has procured a new fleet management system from Chevin Fleet Solutions to examine fleet operations and streamline services.
David Parton, head of direct services at Gedling Borough Council and chair of the consortium said: “This is a great example of partnership working which will result in the councils’ transport operations becoming more efficient by reducing the administrative burden related to transport information and with the ability to compare servicing and breakdown information on each council’s operational performance, this will undoubtedly result in service improvements and cost reductions.”
Chevin Fleet Solutions’ web-based application, FleetWave, was selected for the task over five other suppliers, according to the firm, and will enable the members of the Nottingham Consortium to benchmark their vehicle and other assets against each other for performance.
The new system is set to go-live in April and works by enabling data to be captured relating to the whole fleet, including vehicles from refuse collection, road maintenance, street cleansing and car derived vans, as well as plant and equipment such as lawn mowers.
The information is then integrated into a centralised system that can produce reports on fuel usage, mileage, accidents, maintenance and driver licensing “so that personnel can quickly and accurately identify inefficiencies,” said Chevin.
Ashley Sowerby, managing director of Chevin Fleet Solutions, commented: “Against the backdrop of reduced budgets it is vital that organisations in the public sector investigate effective ways to reduce unnecessary expenditure across all departments, in order to protect service provision where possible.
“Combined, the Consortium manages up to 3000 vehicles and pieces of equipment, so the potential to make efficiencies and minimise environmental impact is significant.”
Sowerby concluded: “Teaming-up with other local authorities has meant that the Nottingham Vehicle Consortium is not duplicating efforts and is able to compare fleet productivity with similar set-ups, adding a competitive element. This will ultimately help to deliver more efficient services to residents.”
Follow BusinessCar on TWITTER
