Reynolds Catering Supplies has signed a three-year renewal with SmartDrive Systems, the company behind the video-based driver safety programme of the same name.

The SmartDrive system encompasses road facing and interior facing recorders. These capture video and vehicle data of triggered events, which typically encompass distracted or dangerous driving incidents.

The triggered event videos are automatically sent to SmartDrive’s team of reviewers, who categorise and score them before sending them to an online portal.

Customers such as Reynolds access the prioritised event footage from there, and in the case of the operator, two ROSPA certificated driver trainers then use the footage to coach the firm's drivers.

Reynolds made the decision to renew based on both the safety improvements and financial results it has achieved using the system.

This includes a 30% cumulative reduction in collisions year-on-year since 2009, ongoing fuel consumption improvements across the fleet and a reduction in associated costs, such as insurance premiums.

Coaching drivers with the aid of SmartDrive also delivered a 2% improvement in average mpg across the fleet in 2015.

“We have enough data now to say that SmartDrive has made a considerable contribution to enabling us to reduce collisions, save fuel and proactively work towards minimising our associated direct and indirect costs,” said Steve White, head of fleet at Reynolds (pictured).

“We have been working with SmartDrive since 2009 and continue to generate excellent value from its video-based programme. It has become an integral part of our day-to-day operations."

Reynolds works for the likes of Itsu, Pizza Express and Bills, running a 24 hour operation out of eight depots. It has more than 250 vehicles, from 7.5 to 44-tonners.

“We have invested heavily in our fleet over the past few years,” said White. “Throughout this growth, SmartDrive’s Assurance programme has helped to propagate our culture of ‘safety first’ across all areas of the business.

"This is critical because the welfare of our staff and our general brand reputation rely on it."

Reynolds recently took delivery of a pair of fridge-bodied Econics for urban use.

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