“We can reduce downtime from three days to two hours”

That's straight from the mouth of Ford Pro customer Gareth Jones, Speedy Hire’s Group Transport Compliance Manager. He’s fresh from a six-month trial of innovative data-driven maintenance for his fleet of Transit Custom vans, and compliments don't get much better than that. It's all part of the service provided by Ford Liive - Ford Pro's innovative connected uptime system.

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Lloyds British, which is part of the Speedy Hire Group, is one of those vital companies that you may never have heard of. Its services help keep industrial workers across the UK safe by testing and inspecting cranes, industrial high-pressure equipment and exhaust systems – often in remote locations and for high-value projects.

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That makes it crucial for Lloyds British inspectors to reach sites anywhere in the country, on time, with the equipment they need to do the job. The company uses a fleet of Transit Custom vans to get its inspectors to customer locations – and Ford Pro has for many years been the preferred vehicle supplier for Lloyds British’s parent firm Speedy Hire.

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Prior to the trial, fleet managers were finding that they had to react to maintenance issues which cost time and money to sort out, and badly impacted customer service. Whether for routine items like oil changes or AdBlue levels, or maintenance such as replacing tyres or brake pads, the first notice would typically be when a Lloyds British van driver reported the issue. That used to mean at least three days of downtime – one to take the van to a workshop, one for maintenance, and one to collect it – plus the extra costs resulting from additional mileage, fuel expenses, and an inspector unable to travel to sites.

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With the connectivity offered as standard by the latest Transit Custom vans, there was an opportunity to improve Lloyds British’s uptime and customer service by managing their vehicle servicing and availability more proactively.

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Enter Ford Pro to accelerate their productivity.

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We worked with Lloyds British and their dealer partner TrustFord to trial a smart solution linking fleet managers, Ford Telematics software and Ford Pro Mobile Service. The trial fleet of 70 Transit Customs was connected to complimentary Ford Pro Telematics Essentials software and the vehicle health data was inspected weekly. Any vehicle health alerts were proactively followed up and raised with TrustFord’s nationwide mobile service network, and appointments scheduled at a convenient time and location for the Lloyds British inspector.

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The mobile servicing team could access vehicle health data to confirm the parts and attention needed before arriving on site, as well as to check if they could do any other service tasks while there for maximum efficiency. Using this proactive approach, resolving a typical vehicle maintenance issue went from three days of downtime to just two hours. In some cases, Ford Pro Mobile Service could sort issues out while Lloyds British's inspectors were on site doing their jobs, making downtime effectively zero.

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From January through June this year, the trial saved 62 days of downtime. We estimate that customers lose ￡500 per van for each day their vans are off the road, so even this limited trial saved Lloyds British ￡31,000 – a valuable saving for any business.?

It's forward-thinking customers such as Lloyds British that prove the benefits of Ford Pro's connected ecosystem and push us to find new ways of accelerating productivity. Together, we're showing what the future of fleets looks like. Here's what Lloyds British had to say: