PHOENIX, AZ - Blood Systems, a non-profit blood service provider with a fleet of more than 500 vehicles, has decided to roll out a telematics solution to its entire fleet after a successful pilot in the organization’s Louisiana region. The non-profit’s fleet consists of vans, pick-up trucks, minivans and buses, which it uses to deliver blood, blood components, and related services to patients in more than 500 hospitals in 18 states.

Shane Whitten, corporate safety and fleet manager at Blood Systems, worked with inthinc Technology Solutions to test that company’s telematics platform, inthinc tiwiPro. Blood Systems installed these devices in 35 of their vehicles for the pilot program.

During the initial pilot, Blood Systems ran the devices in “silent” mode. Although the organization’s employees knew the devices were installed in their vehicles, the devices were set to not provide any verbal alerts when drivers “violated” conditions set by Blood Systems for the test. The company used this information to get benchmark figures. After establishing those benchmarks, the company turned on the alerts to conduct the rest of the test. Whitten said the company saw an immediate change.

“We had been looking for a system that would help improve fleet management and vehicle safety,” Whitten said. “We saw a solid reduction in fuel consumption and miles driven, while at the same time improving the life of the vehicles. Because drivers were immediately notified if they inadvertently exceeded the speed limit, and then given a grace period to correct their behavior, we experienced an unexpected savings in fuel costs.”

With the pilot program finished, Blood Systems now plans to roll out the solution to its entire fleet.

“Following such a successful experience in our Louisiana region, we decided to roll out the solution to our entire fleet,” he said. “We are looking forward to driving down costs and increasing safety even further.”