Speed limiting my vans?
Discussion
geeteeaye said:
...but if you limit them to 70 and lets say a driver spends 3hrs per day on motorway, that's 60 miles per speeding driver you've lost to be made up elsewhere.
Assuming a van can average 90mph over the whole of the three hours spent on the motorway.Back in the real world......
We sometimes get the odd hire van in with a 68mph limiter fitted - and this particular hire company likes to proudly advertise the fact on the back door.
Every so often one will encounter a dawdler with an inferiority complex on the motorway. You'll overtake them - but at such a small differential that you can't get away. They'll then notice the limited speed signwritten on the back of the van which suddenly wakes them up ("s
t, it's a motorway, I should be doing 70!" 
) and so they overtake and pull back in front of you. Then they subconsciously slow down again because they're stupid...
It certainly makes you sympathise with truckers stuck on a limiter, and frankly if any of your drivers have a short fuse, don't go down this route!
Our company uses a combination of trackers and regular assessment. The assessment tends to weed out the generally incompetent amongst the fleet, so the company doesn't really feel the need to start dishing out punishments if a tracker shows a driver "saving a bit of time" but doing it safely and sensibly.
Every so often one will encounter a dawdler with an inferiority complex on the motorway. You'll overtake them - but at such a small differential that you can't get away. They'll then notice the limited speed signwritten on the back of the van which suddenly wakes them up ("s
t, it's a motorway, I should be doing 70!" ) and so they overtake and pull back in front of you. Then they subconsciously slow down again because they're stupid... It certainly makes you sympathise with truckers stuck on a limiter, and frankly if any of your drivers have a short fuse, don't go down this route!
Our company uses a combination of trackers and regular assessment. The assessment tends to weed out the generally incompetent amongst the fleet, so the company doesn't really feel the need to start dishing out punishments if a tracker shows a driver "saving a bit of time" but doing it safely and sensibly.
I'd also suggest the tracker route - just don't do what a company I worked for once did which was tracker all the vans overnight and tell the workers that it was some kind of fuel management (or some other bs that's not a tracker) system - they'll be pissed off when they discover it's a tracker.
Be upfront and make it clear that they'll not be pulled up for every little thing they do and only if they take the piss.
s that's not a tracker) system - they'll be pissed off when they discover it's a tracker. Be upfront and make it clear that they'll not be pulled up for every little thing they do and only if they take the piss.
JoPo1 said:
geeteeaye said:
Nice. What a lovely company you must be to work for.
Never get complaints except from the muppets that are sacked.Edited by geeteeaye on Sunday 17th April 23:17
What's bad about my company? Because some clown unplugged MY tracker on one of MY vans that he done so HE could use it on his DAY OFF that he should'nt be?
Aye, OK. I'll pay the fuel bill for someone to get a patio heater from B&Q. If he had asked it might have been different, But he chose to try and be smart and unplug his tracker, For all i knew he was tanking it down the 30mph zones at schools with MY company's name on the side of it.
Had he left it plugged in and used it then I could have asked him what was going on and just requested he replaced the diesel. But some fuds choose to be a
holes about things.You claimed to work for the Fire Brigade on your "other" profile.
Don't tell me: at the tender age of 23 you're a slacker sacking company director by day and a blaze battling hero by night?
Then again, maybe you're just a fantasist the rest of the time.
What would your uncle think...?
Edited by LBFB on Monday 18th April 01:57
geeteeaye said:
Nice. What a lovely company you must be to work for.
OP - Some mates have had systems like this in their vans, just be sure to balance the cost saving (minus the cost of the tracker systems) against royally pissing off your workforce and encouraging certain employees to find any way to get a bit extra back, in one mates case this was taking excess wire for personal scrap, or sockets/switches for 'foreigners' etc. Another common practice is filling a jerry can of diesel each fillup for their own car. Not right but when people feel so untrusted, some tend to think 'fk it they don't trust me so why should I give a fk about them'.
I've never understood why some people feel a need to teach their employer a lesson about anything. Life's too short, just get another job elsewhere.OP - Some mates have had systems like this in their vans, just be sure to balance the cost saving (minus the cost of the tracker systems) against royally pissing off your workforce and encouraging certain employees to find any way to get a bit extra back, in one mates case this was taking excess wire for personal scrap, or sockets/switches for 'foreigners' etc. Another common practice is filling a jerry can of diesel each fillup for their own car. Not right but when people feel so untrusted, some tend to think 'f
k it they don't trust me so why should I give a fk about them'.Edited by geeteeaye on Sunday 17th April 23:17
Bob_Defly said:
geeteeaye said:
Nice. What a lovely company you must be to work for.
OP - Some mates have had systems like this in their vans, just be sure to balance the cost saving (minus the cost of the tracker systems) against royally pissing off your workforce and encouraging certain employees to find any way to get a bit extra back, in one mates case this was taking excess wire for personal scrap, or sockets/switches for 'foreigners' etc. Another common practice is filling a jerry can of diesel each fillup for their own car. Not right but when people feel so untrusted, some tend to think 'fk it they don't trust me so why should I give a fk about them'.
I've never understood why some people feel a need to teach their employer a lesson about anything. Life's too short, just get another job elsewhere.OP - Some mates have had systems like this in their vans, just be sure to balance the cost saving (minus the cost of the tracker systems) against royally pissing off your workforce and encouraging certain employees to find any way to get a bit extra back, in one mates case this was taking excess wire for personal scrap, or sockets/switches for 'foreigners' etc. Another common practice is filling a jerry can of diesel each fillup for their own car. Not right but when people feel so untrusted, some tend to think 'f
k it they don't trust me so why should I give a fk about them'.Edited by geeteeaye on Sunday 17th April 23:17
+1 for turning it into a contest.
For me, driving the boring miles as economically as possible turns into quite a good game. As long as you don't get the local short trip guys complaining that they'll never get near the mway cruiser figures.
Do any of your current fleet have trip computers/range indicators? No van I've driven yet has had one fitted, wonder if it might make a difference if drivers are given an instant flavour of how they are driving?
OP - If you fit trackers/limiters your employees will feel it is an implict criticsm of their driving, or that you do not trust them, or both. As long as you are OK with that, fine.
Personally I'd strongly favour the employee with the most miles for least fuel each month gets a restaurant meal paid for, or some other perk. Then driving like a saint is rewarded, not forced.
FWIW the two PH'ers who fired employees for speeding and undoing a tracking plug are living very dangerously. Unless those employees have prior disciplinary warnings for similar offences, you are left wide open to unfair dismissal claims resulting in the loss of thousands of pounds for your business. You'd be less smug if that occurred I'd wager.
Personally I'd strongly favour the employee with the most miles for least fuel each month gets a restaurant meal paid for, or some other perk. Then driving like a saint is rewarded, not forced.
FWIW the two PH'ers who fired employees for speeding and undoing a tracking plug are living very dangerously. Unless those employees have prior disciplinary warnings for similar offences, you are left wide open to unfair dismissal claims resulting in the loss of thousands of pounds for your business. You'd be less smug if that occurred I'd wager.
Don't fit a limiter, I used to drive a van limited to 68 years back it was terrible for some of the above reasons.
Install trackers, isotrack/nav man and tell the lads it's for insurance reasons. Educate them on how they work and explain you know when they unplug them. They still work even with a blank screen, the driver just has no way of messaging or using any of the other functions available.
Think that would be what I'd do.
Install trackers, isotrack/nav man and tell the lads it's for insurance reasons. Educate them on how they work and explain you know when they unplug them. They still work even with a blank screen, the driver just has no way of messaging or using any of the other functions available.
Think that would be what I'd do.
We have limiters, vans over 3.5 and under a certain age so had to be done. On a long journey of 150 miles on a the motorway its a quarter of a tank saved but its 56 as opposed to 70 for the under 3.5 vans.
For an incentive, well, personally speaking it would have to be extremely good. The limiter is a right royal pain in the butt and if I could legally and without getting the sack circumvent it, I would.
For an incentive, well, personally speaking it would have to be extremely good. The limiter is a right royal pain in the butt and if I could legally and without getting the sack circumvent it, I would.
Fuel saved incentive scheme would be way better, you'd be amazed how competetive some of them will get
Allowing a little more time to get things done will help though in reality there is'nt much in it, some will no doubt have different routes, hillier, more traffic etc so account for that. If they get a bonus for beating their mpg target you & they are quids in & they'll have slowed down a wee bit too no doubt.
I do eco driver training if it helps
Allowing a little more time to get things done will help though in reality there is'nt much in it, some will no doubt have different routes, hillier, more traffic etc so account for that. If they get a bonus for beating their mpg target you & they are quids in & they'll have slowed down a wee bit too no doubt.
I do eco driver training if it helps
I had trackers fitted just over a year ago, the savings are more than fuel you also cut down on any unpaid breaks.
We monitored our staff for 3 months before telling them they were being tracked, it made for a very interesting meeting when confronted with their piss taking at My expense.
We monitored our staff for 3 months before telling them they were being tracked, it made for a very interesting meeting when confronted with their piss taking at My expense.
All of our minibuses are fitted with trackers but not limiters. There's also a policy in place to discipline anyone who's caught speeding in them. Seems to work - we're in the west coast of scotland, so need to be able to overtake caravans and tourists gawking in the summer, so a rev limiter wouldn't work.
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