Microlise data confirms quiet streets equal better efficiency
Telematics provider Microlise has confirmed what we may already have suspected, that road transport would be more efficient if it weren’t for all those other road users. Its Data Science & Operational Research team has compared data from baseline figures recorded in the first week of February with each subsequent week.
The key results include fuel economy improved by 6 or 7%, and over-speeding and harsh braking events both reduced by up to 37%. The peak reduction in over-speeding was seen during the week beginning 13 April, since when the reduction has stabilised at around 31%. The harsh breaking improvement peaked during the previous week, now settled at 29%. The fuel economy improvement has remained fairly constant throughout.
Total mileage began to fall from 23 March, reaching its lowest level during the week beginning 6 April, down 27%, since when it has returned to about 16%.
The CEO of Microlise, Nazeem Raza, said “Travel movement for those hauliers who have been able to continue to trade, seems to have improved during lockdown – drivers are performing more safely and are travelling more efficiently between depots and delivery end-points, perhaps due to lighter traffic conditions and the fact that night-time delivery restrictions were relaxed.”
Looking ahead, Raza wondered “Could HGV-only lanes and more flexibility around delivery windows support a more agile supply chain into the future? What is certain is that the Coronavirus pandemic has thrown our global supply chain into sharper focus in a way that is likely to transform our logistics landscape into the future with data continuing to play a key role in supporting our sector as it returns to a new normal - a sector that yet again, has proved in a time of crisis - to be a bedrock within our economy.”