If you’re a fleet operator, there is nothing more important than ensuring your staff — your drivers — go home to their families at the end of a shift. That’s why safety is such an important part of Samsara’s mission to digitise the world of physical operations. And it’s a message that resonates with our customers as well. 

Take Lanes Group, the UK's largest provider of wastewater solutions operating some 4,000 vehicles nationwide. It’s using Samsara’s Connected Operations Cloud to gain full visibility and insights into its fleet operations. 

In just eight months it boosted driver engagement and improved safety scores by 72% helping to transform its operations. As a result, mobile phone usage dropped by 92%, and severe speeding incidents decreased by 25% as drivers became more focused on the road. 

"Samsara allows us to showcase driver behaviours and reduce incidents, leading to happier, safer drivers," said Amber Kirkby, Fleet Systems Team Leader at Lanes. 

"We've made such great strides, but there's still room to get even better. Samsara's insights and tools are crucial for monitoring our progress and finding new opportunities to enhance safety and service for communities across the UK," she said.

Technology prevents crashes and saves lives 

And Lanes is not alone. Delifresh — which operates a fleet of more than 80 vehicles across the UK offering next-day food delivery for the hospitality and events sector — has first-hand experience of how technology can save lives. 

“In one case, a driver was nodding off and the forward-facing camera picked up standing traffic ahead,” said Mark Waite, Delifresh’s Transport Supervisor. “Without the alert that woke him in time, he would have run into those vehicles. It’s active coaching in every cab — correcting behaviours before we even see the footage.”

Elsewhere, FM Conway — an essential infrastructure partner that provides services including highway maintenance, civil engineering, and traffic management — saw a 21.9% reduction in the number of road incidents when it turned to Samsara.  

For the company’s business leaders, using technology to provide visibility across its fleet was essential to mitigating risk.  

“We needed to look at our drivers: what they’re doing, how they’re driving, how safe they are on the roads, and the problems they’re incurring daily,” said Paul Cerexhe, Director of Logistics. “We wanted to understand what was going on out there to ensure that our employees, and other road users, get home safe.”

Before, the business simply didn’t know how good or bad drivers were and had to rely on feedback from incidents or the public. 

“Now we can actually see that information in real time, which is a massive benefit for us,” said Paul. “One of the best things that has come from the system is that you see drivers go from a poor to a good rating very quickly.” 

Samsara’s mission is to improve safety 

What’s clear is that technology can make a difference. Yes, good safety is good business. But it can prevent road crashes and injury. And in the most serious of cases, it saves lives too. This commitment to safety is one of the reasons why Samsara is a Strategic Partner of the UK’s road safety charity, Brake.

Launched in 1995, its primary role is to support people bereaved and seriously injured by road crashes. It’s also an active campaigner for road safety and each November hosts Road Safety Week to raise awareness.  

“Our vision is a world with zero road deaths and injuries, where we can all travel in a safe and healthy way regardless of our mode of transport,” said Ross Moorlock, CEO of Brake.

“Until our vision becomes a reality, we're working to stop crashes on our roads, reduce harm when a crash happens, and help every single road victim get the support they need for as long as they need it,” he said. 

Speaking recently, he talked about the importance of the charity and the role technology can play in road safety. 

“It's well documented that driving for work is one of the most dangerous things that employers ask their staff to do. Around a third of road deaths — and a fifth of serious injuries — involve someone driving for work,” he said.

“We know technology has a really important part to play in all of this — especially in terms of the preventative measures. 

“That’s why it's really important that people understand the role technology plays — what it's there to do, how it works and functions, how it supports them, and how it is there to help keep them safe,” he said.

You can find out more about Brake and the work that it does here. 

You can find out more about Samsara’s safety solutions here.