Midland Tyre Services reduces accidents by 54% thanks to a renewed focus on driver safety

“The health and safety of our staff and customers is number one, and Samsara has become a massive part of us continuing to meet and exceed this goal.” Chris Parle, Chief Commercial Officer, Midland Tyre Services

Standout Benefits

• 50% reduction in time spent managing the fleet

• 20 minutes saved on every call-out, equivalent to 140,000 minutes or 2,333 hours per year 

• 54% reduction in road accidents in two years

• 96% average driver score—a metric that tracks, measures, and reports on individual driver performance

Limited fleet visibility left managers in the dark

Midland Tyre Services is Ireland’s largest independently owned supplier of truck, agricultural,  and off-the-road (OTR) tyres. Alongside equipping some of the country's largest blue-chip companies with fresh sets of wheels, the company attends over 7,000 breakdowns every year. 

A change of ownership however saw health and safety fall under the management microscope. 

“We were experiencing a high accident rate and as a result, sky-high insurance premiums. It wasn’t sustainable, we knew we had to change our approach,” said Chief Commercial Officer, Chris Parle. “Our existing tracking system couldn’t see in or outside of the cab, so it lacked the functionality we needed to prevent risky behaviour, exonerate innocent drivers, or guide targeted coaching.” 

Without insights into safety events or driver behaviour, coaching drivers and demonstrating safety improvements was nigh on impossible. As a result, fleet managers were left in the dark, and insurance premiums continued to climb. 

A birds-eye view over the entire fleet

Midland Tyre Services turned to Samsara for a comprehensive view of safety through integrated telematics, fleet tracking, and dual-facing dash cams. 

“Samsara gives us a powerful pair of eyes across our entire fleet,” said Parle.“ It’s helped us resolve issues and respond to callouts much faster. We can share tracking data through dispatch links so our customers and technicians have a clear view of the nearest vehicle responding. It’s great for transparency and having complete visibility over our drivers is a massive benefit.” 

When drivers are out on the road, Samsara’s AI Dash Cameras capture footage of risky behaviours like tailgating or distracted driving, and upload it automatically to a centralised inbox for review. For Midland Tyre Services, this has helped them put safety first, and provide targeted coaching to drivers that need it most. 

However, driving a new culture of safety wasn’t without its roadblocks. Initially, there was some pushback from drivers, as they weren’t completely sold on the benefits. 

“A few of our drivers were reluctant at first; there was a pretty significant amount of backlash we had to contend with,” said Parle. Thankfully, once drivers realised the cameras were there to protect them, not police them, Midland Tyre Services were able to win them over. “It took a little bit of training, but our drivers quickly realised that the cameras are there for their benefit, and if an accident occurs that isn’t their fault, they’re protected.” 

A new standard of safety awareness

Thanks to vastly improved driver tracking and fleet management, Midland Tyre Services has saved an average of 20 minutes on each call-out—totalling 140,000 minutes or 2333 hours across the year. Driver manager, Eddie Burns, said: “Before, I’d be asking — are you finished? Have you completed your hours? Now, I can just check Samsara and see who's moving, who's nearest. That visibility alone saves me twenty minutes on every single breakdown I attend. I couldn't function without it.”

Midland Tyre Services has also set a new standard of safety awareness with Samsara’s Safety Score, which tracks, measures, and reports on individual driver performance. The average score across all drivers is an impressive 96%, which is indicative of the great progress the team has made in terms of safety, coaching, and personal growth. “The safety score has been a runaway success,” says Burns. “It’s given myself and other drivers something to compete over, I can’t count the number of times we’ve joked about beating each other’s score, it’s a fantastic system.” 

Critically, Samsara has helped Midland Tyre Services reduce road traffic accidents by 54% in two years and helped them renegotiate insurance premiums to keep costs low. 

Driving a culture of safety

Midland Tyre Services plans to continue developing its partnership with Samsara. By introducing the technology to more vans, training new drivers, and continually looking for ways to improve, the tyre giant hopes to nurture a culture of safety that sticks around for the foreseeable future. 

“We’re just scratching the surface of what we can achieve with Samsara – so watch this space!” said Parle.