Key Facts:
| Organisation: Vision Australia (NFP) | Number of Locations: 33 |
| Fleet Size: 150+ vehicles | Vehicle Use: Pool vehicles |
| Location: Australia wide | Vehicle Type: Light commercial/passenger, Vans & Buses |
| Website: https://www.visionaustralia.org/ | LBM Products: Pool Vehicles, Driver Safety, Logbooks & Record Keeping, Fleet Optimisation & Fleet Operations |
In 2019 Vision Australia began looking for a new solution for their fleet booking system. The Not-For-Profit organisation was looking for a solution that was reliable and had driver safety reporting and tracking of the location where the Fleet vehicle is. Their previous provider offered a booking system with keyless entry which due to various factors prevented Vision Australia staff from gaining access to vehicles leading to a rise in staff complaints and resulting in a lack of productivity and underutilisation of the fleet.
Jason Morgan, Fleet and Property Coordinator, at Vision Australia who has worked in Fleet Management for over 5 years said “Vision Australia was looking for a platform for a better user experience. Due to Vision Australia having a large team spread across multiple states and territories, the use of its 158 fleet assets and this being easy for 800 plus staff and volunteers was a must.”
After a tender process, LBM Fleet was chosen by Vision Australia. Caroline Smith Vision Australia Property Portfolio Manager says:
“LBM Fleet was chosen due the capabilities that their system offered for fleet management and vehicle bookings. The quality of reporting and capability to adapt the platform to make this accessible for vision impaired staff was an important factor. Vision Australia partner with a Fleet Management Organisation (FMO) for maintenance and leasing, however, LBM was implemented as a necessary service to improve the management, data and visibility over the use of fleet vehicles and support our admin staff and drivers with an easy and reliable booking process.”
Caroline Smith Vision Australia Property Portfolio Manager
Fit-for-purpose booking system ticks all boxes
Vision Australia knew that there was a range of requirements that needed to be incorporated into a single pool booking solution for staff, “LBM’s integrated pool vehicle booking system allows for timed reservations, recurring bookings, and email reminders, so that the use of the fleet could be more organised. It also works to set up rules for allocating the right car to the right driver for optimal utilisation and longevity of Vision Australia’s vehicles,” says Mr Morgan. “In addition, drivers can easily fill out logbooks linked to their bookings, report damage and complete safety and equipment inspections. With all the multiple driver touch points linked to the booking and accessible from any device, computer or kiosk, the data capture of driver ID has also been improved, without the need for in-car screens, swipe cards or extra hardware costs and maintenance.”
Redefining business as usual through data driven decision making
Immediately following the implementation of LBM’s products, several of Vision Australia’s core issues were solved. Keyless entry was removed completely, which in effect, solved the problems around vehicles not being accessed or not starting. Staff and co-ordinators could make bookings on LBM’s system and then pick up keys to start their journey. LBM’s reporting, with bookings linked to telematics data in the vehicles allowed for Vision Australia to have far greater insight into how vehicles were used, by who, when and why vehicles were being booked. Increasing visibility over the fleet uncovered new information that Vision Australia had never been able to gain access to prior.
“Our staff love the system because of the visibility it provides over what’s happening in the business. LBM customised the reporting fields and criteria to reflect Vision Australia’s policies and our staff are using the data every day to manage teams and understand how we are tracking towards strategic outcomes in fleet operations and driver safety – it has allowed us to go from underutilisation of fleet vehicles to productive use, increasing our efficiency and ability to reach and help the community.”
Jason Morgan, Vision Australia Fleet and Property Coordinator
Productivity on the rise
A related outcome to have a reliable booking system is the natural flow-on to productivity.
“The previous booking system was getting an average of 560 bookings a month, now thanks to LBM, we’re getting an average of 1,100 a month”, says Morgan
Incident Reduction and Increased Driver Safety
The implementation of the LBM safety module in early 2022 has led to a reduction of safety events across the board. (Safety events range from speeding, hard braking, hard acceleration etc). In March 2022, Vision Australia recorded 500 events. This was reduced to 270 (54% reduction) by September 2022, with the organisation on-track for further reductions.
Fleet Optimisation – doing more with less
It also didn’t take long before it became clear where there was extra capacity in the fleet “Not only has the LBM system been accessible and affordable for the NFP to use, but the reporting has given us the ability to drill down to a site, manager area and driver level to identify patterns of use and areas where there could be potential savings adding up to at least 20 percent of the fleet, per annum, for Vision Australia,” said Mr Morgan.
Going the extra mile
As a provider of vision related health services, it was essential for Vision Australia’s fleet solution system to be accessible to people of a range of eyesight abilities. LBM adapted our booking system in order to make it inclusive and accessible for all, at Vision Australia’s request.
“We partnered with LBM Fleet as they really listened and responded to our needs. They worked with us to make the system accessible, so that our blind and low vision staff can use the system to make bookings for team members and guided us through the whole implementation process to ensure that we went live by our deadline.”
Caroline Smith Vision Australia Property Portfolio Manager
Reflecting on prior experiences, Mr Morgan says “In previous years, people talk a lot about helping [in terms of accessibility and inclusivity], but the help hasn’t been there. LBM has helped a lot – they were very open to adjusting their system so that it was an accessible platform, and they customised it quickly. The team gave us a timeline and delivered all the changes on time and to an excellent standard.”
Vision Australia’s needs and requests were managed and met by their LBM Customer Success Manager – with ongoing staff training and support on software included in the service. With productivity on the rise, reliable systems for supporting transport, and a plan to do more with less, Vision Australia continues to enhance its ability to create a positive impact for Australians with low vision and serve the community.
About Vision Australia
Vision Australia is a leading national provider of blindness and low vision services, working closely with Australians who are blind or have low vision to help them live life how they choose. Vision Australia supports over 35,000 people of all ages and circumstances across the country, both online and in person. Vision Australia boasts a large national team of over 800 employees, as well as volunteers that work together to provide a wide range of services to the community.
