FM Conway invests in driver safety with implementation of artificial intelligence telematics system across its fleet

Leading infrastructure services company FM Conway has implemented a new artificial intelligence (AI) telematics system across its fleet, adding to its continually growing portfolio of driver safety measures.

The new telematics system has been fully installed across FM Conway’s 1,000-strong fleet and is part of the business’ wider focus on developing new vehicle technologies and enhancing driver training processes to protect all road users.

The installation comes as part of FM Conway’s 10-year health and safety strategy, The Big Ten in 10, which prioritises the greatest risks to life and uses digital and technological advances to implement safety critical controls. FM Conway carried out a risk profile of its business and identified that statistically Occupational Road Risk was one of its highest risks, with over 22 million miles travelled per year on the UK’s roads.

After trialling the technology with its own drivers, the business implemented a new system that analyses how its fleet is being driven via live telematics data from the company vehicles, as well as providing in-cab prompts that help adjust unwanted driver behaviours.

By using AI cameras in the vehicle’s cab, the system pre-emptively identifies incidents or potentially dangerous driver behaviours and sounds an alert before recording a short clip of footage to be reviewed.

The collected data then offers the ability to track and manage information such as driver behaviour, efficiency, techniques, fuel use, as well as whether drivers are acting upon warning signs and if they are carrying out vehicle safety checks and reporting any defects.

FM Conway has also appointed its own ‘Fleet Champions’ that will use the data to coach drivers on preventing potential incidents via newly developed learning and training packages that assist in the professional development of drivers.

The business has now begun implementing a number of safety critical controls across its fleet and training processes to target risk at the source, including:

  • AI telematics camera system
  • Direct vision cabs
  • SideScan®Predict technology
  • Viewmatics
  • Automated braking systems
  • Virtual reality training
  • Enhanced e-learning
  • Life-saving rules

FM Conway Logistics Director, Paul Cerexhe, said:

“We are investing in our people and targeting risk at the source to assist our drivers as much as possible.

“By flagging up habits that most drivers didn’t know they had developed, the system helps to improve their driving skills and supports them in operating their vehicles in a safe manner.

“Technologies such as this not only make our vehicles safer, but more importantly ensure that our drivers are regularly trained and re-trained to deliver new levels of safety standards, ultimately protecting themselves and other users of the road.”