It’s easy to fall into bad habits when you’re driving but on the airfield there’s no excuse for complacency. A recent trial of new technology, originally designed for the haulage industry, is helping Menzies drivers at San Francisco to break bad habits.

SmartDrive is a system that integrates with the onboard computer in any vehicle, monitoring the speedometer and tachometer as well as video-recording the forward and rear views and inside the cab.

Regional Director Mike Demeritt explains; “SmartDrive gives management oversight as never before. It alerts us to every infraction whether that’s a hard turn, speeding or a missed stop sign. We can watch the video clip to see exactly what’s happened.”

“We tested SmartDrive in 10 of our fuelling vehicles and it has really benefitted the drivers. We use the information from SmartDrive to focus on corrective training and coaching. And when accidents happen, SmartDrive gives us a way of corroborating employees’ statements, which reduces the number of disputes.”

Now SmartDrive is being introduced to the remaining fuelling vehicles and GSE at San Francisco and the plan is for it to be rolled out to all the Americas stations in time.

As well as monitoring the vehicle itself, SmartDrive can also spot lapses in driver concentration or a seatbelt that hasn’t been fastened. Having access to this forensic level of information and being able to address the associated risks is source of competitive advantage for Menzies. Mike continues; “No other ground handler is using technology to improve driving standards in this way at San Francisco. Using SmartDrive to manage performance shows our commitment to a culture of continuous improvement.”