Like the majority of hauliers and fleet companies, McCulla, a leading refrigerated transport specialist, was challenged with managing insurance costs, claims, rising fraud, driver training and fuel costs. The major issue that drove them to begin searching for a vehicle camera system (ultimately choosing ProVision’s CameraMatics system) was managing and defending claims in a more efficient way and wanting to better defend those claims.
Following extensive trials of three different systems, they chose ProVision’s CameraMatics system because of its flexibility, quality and powerful platform that provides powerful features to manage fleet risk, driver safety and compliance.
Ciaran Murphy, Head of Sales at ProVision, said: “McCulla was looking for a solution that would provide them with remote cloud access and offer direct control to review all footage at any time. These are key aspects of our system, in addition to a multi-channel setup and upgradeability for the future. It is this all-in-one solution that makes CameraMatics such a compelling choice for fleet operators.”
The company has now used the system for the past two years and over that time they learned how to integrate the system into their day-to-day business practices, and crucially, to supplement their advanced telematics data with the CameraMatics data and footage. Thanks to this approach they have experienced substantial savings in the areas of controlling rising insurance costs, preventing fraud, improving driver training and more efficient claims handling; all of which has led to easier and more effective risk management.
A major element of McCulla’s business is insurance management. Working very closely with their insurers, they have shown how the CameraMatics system not only helps to better defend claims but, more importantly, how it can be used as a full fleet and risk management solution to improve driver and general fleet safety and thereby reduce future accident claims.
The company’s insurers were so impressed by the proposal and had not seen any comparable solution, that they agreed to part-fund the CameraMatics implementation. Brian Beattie, Operations Director at McCulla, said: “Insurance is a major cost to a haulier of our size. Insurers now realise that they need to better profile the fleet on its own merits rather than the traditional pooled risk. They need to facilitate fleets to act, which ultimately reduces the risk they have to underwrite.”
In addition, ProVision’s system allows McCulla to counter the threat of fraud. With incidents occurring on a monthly and, at certain times of the year, even weekly basis, video footage acts as a digital witness, protecting drivers by showing that they were not at fault.
McCulla uses the cameras to review driver safety and performance, ensuring that they drive safely and follow best practice. The operator carries out a combination of checks against their telematics data and the corresponding footage and uses clips as a training aid to allow drivers to improve future behaviour.
The system was developed for ultimate simplicity and efficiency, allowing users to reach all key functions in only 3 mouse clicks. On this point Beattie added: “What has really revolutionised how we make use of the footage is how the CameraMatics system allows us to quickly and easily locate footage for incidents reported by it and our telematics system and access that footage remotely, no matter where the vehicle is across Europe. Being able to have the information at your fingertips and download footage immediately has made our compliance manager’s life so much easier and allows us to provide visual feedback to our drivers.”
Commenting on the impact of the technology in relation to safety improvements and cost reductions, Beattie said: “The year-on-year comparison is impressive, both in terms of improved driver behaviour and the savings we’ve enjoyed. The saved fraud attempts alone would have paid for the system for us. As a result of video evidence to support telematics data, the system has improved our drivers’ scores by 4.8% and reduced overall fleet risk.”
CameraMatics helped McCulla to control rising insurance costs and offered them flexibility when looking to renew insurance. In addition, it has halved the work for its staff involved in dealing with claims and legal procedures.
One of the most surprising findings was how much of an impact the visual evidence had in helping drivers to reduce fuel use. Driver training using this footage has delivered a 3% improvement in fleet MPG. In monetary terms, the reduction in fuel consumption translates to approximately £80,000 per year; this is on top of the savings they were enjoying through their existing telematics data reviews alone.
When all these savings and efficiencies are combined, McCulla estimates savings of around £200,000 per year. For McCulla this translates to a return on investment of between seven to eight months. This on a system that they anticipate having a seven-year lifespan!
Simon Murray, Co-Founder of ProVision, said: “It’s great to see such amazing results for McCulla. It is a realisation of how progressive they are as a company, and it is precisely what the CameraMatics platform was designed for. The ability to manage your fleet risk easily by better defending claims, but crucially improving driver performance is critical and shows the full potential of CameraMatics. By using the system proactively as well as reactively, fleet operators can make real changes across their business and enjoy ROI as low as 3 months.”
Founded in 1969, McCulla is a leading provider of ambient, chilled and frozen logistics solutions throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe. The company owns 90,000 square feet of storage and operates a fleet of 100 vehicles, consisting of 93 tractor units, 6 rigids and a large van. A diverse range of 152 trailers complement the haulier’s line-up.
