Lee Jackson, head of fleet at Stericycle, on how the company has achieved Masternaut gold status for the second year running
We are very pleased to have been awarded gold status by Masternaut’s Fleet CO2 Certification for improving our fleet fuel efficiency and reducing our carbon emissions by 7.0 per cent in 2018 compared with the previous year. This is the second consecutive year we have been certified gold, which is awarded for an emissions reduction of more than five per cent. It’s an acknowledgement of the hard work and effort Stericycle is continually putting into becoming more environmentally friendly.
We care about the impact we have on the environmental – sustainability is a core element of our business and we consistently focus on being greener. As transport is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, the fleet side of the business plays a key role in this. That means we need fuel-efficient vehicles operating as effectively as possible.
We have been using Masternaut’s telematics system since 2015. It has enabled us to measure our impact and encourage more environmentally considerate driving styles, which has allowed us to improve the efficiency of our operations and reduce emissions.
The biggest change has been in the behaviour of our fleet drivers. The system has enabled us to minimise risk and protect our drivers by alerting them to reduce their speed when possible. The routes are ‘milk round’, so drivers make stops in a set sequence. They don’t feel under pressure, so we get the most efficient performance out of the vehicle.
We have been able to incentivise our drivers to improve via an assessment mechanism that records events, such as harsh braking or taking corners too fast. When we first started using the Masternaut system, drivers were scoring up to 17 events per hour – now they score below five. In this way, the system has increased miles per gallon, making vehicles more efficient, and the alerts encourage drivers to reduce engine idling, which has also reduced emissions.
The system has been brilliant at identifying opportunities for efficiencies, but it’s the drivers that have taken action – they’re putting in the work, we’re just providing them with the tools. They have really embraced this and want to make a difference.
We have actually seen a slight increase in the number of clinical waste collections we carry out, while managing to reduce emissions. This has been achieved by increasing the capacity of collections and making routes more efficient. Stericycle has national coverage, with 16 depos across the country, so we can look at where we service customers from and try to reduce mileage where possible.
Working with the Masternaut system has been beneficial in many ways. Together with other Masternaut customers, we saved a combined 230,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2018, which is equivalent to 87,800,000 litres of fuel. Now that we can measure ourselves against our peers and against other sectors, we can see how we’re making a difference. The Masternaut certification pushes us to continue delivering year on year – we’ll look for every opportunity we can take to continue achieving gold status.
