FM Conway uses Samsara’s AI safety system to mitigate the possibility of life changing harm across 16 million miles driven annually

“We needed to know what's going on and what’s causing the main safety issues. Samsara is a system that looks at this, tells us what’s going on, and allows us to train drivers accordingly.” Dave Boorman, Fleet Telematics Manager, FM Conway

Standout Benefits:

• Mitigated the possibility of life changing harm across the 16 million miles driven annually by the FM Conway fleet.

• 21.9% reduction in the number of road accidents 

• Overall P&L savings of £212,000 which included £155,000 of savings on third party insurance claims

• 2.1% reduction in the average percentage of light speeding (from 2.70% to 0.60%)

• 0.8% reduction in the average percentage of moderate speeding (from 1.00% to 0.20%) 

• 56.1% reduction in the average daily number of outstanding vehicle defects (from 866 in May 2022, to 380 in Jan 2024)

• Reduced moderate speeding by 80% in one year

A family business with safety at its core 

FM Conway is an essential infrastructure partner working with network operators, local authorities and private clients. The company provides a variety of services needed to keep the nation’s infrastructure operating effectively and efficiently – from highway maintenance, to civil engineering and traffic management.

Primarily based in London, teams operate on technically demanding projects, often in close proximity to the public. FM Conway employees must drive vehicles anywhere from 1.5 tonnes up to 80 tonnes – often in heavy-traffic areas – with over 16 million miles travelled per year on average. 

Designing a 10-year safety strategy to eliminate risk  

FM Conway already had world-class accident statistics, having won the John Crabbe Memorial Trophy for outstanding excellence in health and safety in 2017. But the business recognised the need to further strengthen its safety strategy. A deep dive into understanding the full risk profile of the business led to the ‘Big Ten in Ten’ programme, a 10-year initiative to tackle the ten major recurring risks that threatened life-changing harm. 

FM Conway identified millions of possibilities for harm caused by occupational road risk, but without the bigger picture, the team lacked data to determine where and why the risks were produced, as well as responsive technology that could then help prevent these risks. 

Director of Logistics, Paul Cerexhe, commented, “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. We wanted to understand what was going on out there to ensure that our employees, and other road users, get home safe.”

Changing driver behaviours long-term 

 A successful trial period saw FM Conway install Samsara Vehicle Gateway hubs and Dual-Facing AI Dash Cams across the entirety of the company’s 1,000-strong fleet. 

Vehicle Gateways monitor diagnostic information about the vehicle, including its location, how far it’s travelled, its fuel economy, and any engine faults. This gives fleet and operations managers full visibility of their assets in real time. Cameras supply vital safety data, tracking events like harsh acceleration or braking, or instances of speeding. 

The result? The team was able to reduce the average percentage of light speeding from 2.70% to 0.60%, and the average percentage of moderate speeding from 1% to just 0.20% between March 2023 and March 2024. This, in turn, led to a 21.9% reduction in road traffic accidents. FM Conway managers can also analyse drivers' actions that may affect safety, including signs of distracted driving, at the point of occurrence.  

All this information is then collated to create a driver score that reflects each driver's performance — and any coaching they may need — and incentivise safer behaviour in the future. The system works by removing points for unsafe behaviours, and adding them for any events recorded as defensive driving. 

Drivers themselves also have access to the Samsara Driver App to keep track of their score and also carry out activities like vehicle safety checks, boost communication with supervisors, and gain access to training resources. 

“We didn’t know how good or bad drivers were before — we 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. 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.” Paul Cerexhe, Director of Logistics, FM Conway

Creating a safer future for the capital 

FM Conway aims to continue to serve its community and continue prioritising safety on the road by building on this initial success. The company is now in the process of setting up a Driver Safety Incentive Scheme and has begun to appoint ‘Fleet Champions’ who will use Samsara’s data to mentor and coach drivers. 

As Cerexhe says, “We are different from most businesses. We’re so diverse because we’ve got lots of different vehicles doing lots of different activities. The future is for us to progress the system, make it better and push the technology to the best it can be, so we can be the best that we can be.”