How Grundon Waste Management drove a 71% reduction in safety incidents with Samsara's AI-led driver programme

"Using Samsara, we've taken a different spin on safety events. We're celebrating the successes of our drivers and reinforcing positive behaviours, which has led to dramatic improvements in both safety and efficiency." Chris Double, Regional Operations Manager

Standout Benefits

• 71% reduction in safety incidents 

• 61% reduction in distracted driving event rate

• 72% reduction in collision risk and policy violations

Pioneering AI-driven safety in waste management

Grundon Waste Management, the UK's largest private waste company, operates a fleet of over 300 vehicles across the south of the UK. But a lack of comprehensive insights and data meant the team struggled to effectively monitor, manage, and improve driver safety.

"We didn't know what we didn't know," said Chris Double, Regional Operations Manager at Grundon. "We were looking for a system that could give us the data we need, but more importantly, in a format that we can understand."

The team turned to Samsara for a solution that would provide actionable data, and could be used to inform a bespoke driver safety strategy.

Transforming driver safety with AI

Grundon introduced Samsara video-based safety technology through a phased approach, starting with a four-week baselining period. This involved collecting data on driver performance and setting a benchmark to improve on, before the system went live. Baselining was followed by a four-week trial of detecting safety events with Samsara, but without any human intervention to give drivers time to get familiar with the technology. From week nine onwards, Grundon began to actively manage on-road behaviours picked up by Samsara to coach drivers moving forward. 

The new system provides instant feedback to drivers, and lets them monitor their  performance through a points-based system on the Samsara App — encouraging both driver engagement and self-improvement.

"I don't feel as an industry that we celebrate those successes enough," said Chris Double. "We always focus on accidents and react. With Samsara, we can identify and reinforce good driving."

The performance monitoring paid off, resulting in a 71% reduction in incidents during the initial eight-week trial period. AI-powered in-cab coaching dramatically reduced safety events before active management even began. The team also realised a 61% reduction in the rate of distracted driver alerts, and a 72% reduction in collision risk and policy violations.

Fuel efficiency gains and beyond

Beyond a reduced number of safety incidents, implementing Samsara dash cams and telematics also enabled the team to achieve a 5% improvement in fuel efficiency. 

"Changing that culture and attitude of that driver to keep to the speed limits, keep their distance, not brake harshly, not accelerate harshly, actually has a real-world impact on our fuel efficiency,” said Chris Double. "Fuel is a big expenditure. A 5% saving on fuel pays for the Samsara system itself.”

Looking ahead, Grundon plans to further leverage performance monitoring to target idling and eco-driving for even greater efficiency gains.