Nov/Dec 2003

It seems only fitting that a company marketing robotic lawnmowers should use the latest in high tech for delivering its own products. So it is perhaps no surprise that Henton & Chattell, which supplies the MowBot lawnmower range, has fitted the ICS Black Box Fleet Log FL01 system in its delivery vehicles to monitor their operations.

The dashboard-mounted unit in the cab includes a swipe-card reader to allow drivers to identify themselves when they log on for a journey. The company says the primary reason for adopting the system was to compare planned and actual journey details, and hence keep driver performance at optimum levels.

The data is downloaded automatically by a radio frequency connection every time the vehicles return to the depot (in fact when they pass within 150 metres of it). Although the company is not using all the system's capabilities yet, the similar FL02 version can also be used to plot positions via GPS, and record vehicle routes and customers visited.

Already the Henton & Chattell system seems to be working. The company has fitted it in eight vehicles, and says it has identified potential cost savings of up to 30 per cent.