How Cappagh Browne reduced dangerous driving behaviours by 95% with Samsara

CASE STUDY

“We’re 100% behind Samsara. I’d advocate it for any business, it’s a proven platform for safety, and I think everyone can get behind that.” Matthew Reid, Head of Plant & Transport, Cappagh Browne

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Standout Benefits:

• 10% reduction in overall fuel spend

• 17% decrease in speeding events

• 95% reduction in adverse driver behaviours like harsh braking and inattentive driving

• 38 point increase in overall driver safety score one week after implementation

Unreliable tracking, inaccurate data, and a poor user experience

If you need a pipe repaired, a blockage cleared, or a new water network built, Cappagh Browne are the ones to call, serving over 1.5 million wastewater customers completing over 65000 jobs per year across Hampshire, Sussex and Kent on behalf of Southern Water.

With over 250 vehicles on the road, safety is of the utmost importance for Cappagh Browne. Having experienced the impact of a near-fatal accident with one of his drivers in the past, Head of Plant & Transport Matthew Reid is determined to prevent such close calls ever happening again.

Archaic processes were making it hard to keep drivers safe however. The business was struggling to track its growing fleet of vehicles, and reviewing driver behaviour was time-consuming to carry out at scale.

"We'd have to manually obtain the memory card before we could access any forward-facing footage," said Reid. “That’s fine if you’ve got one or two vans to manage, but when you’ve got hundreds, it’s a daunting task that just isn’t sustainable long-term.” 

With existing systems regularly losing files and offering up inaccurate data, mapping out safety improvements was impossible. Something had to change, and that’s when Cappagh Browne reached out to Samsara. 

Plug-and-play setup for immediate results

After a one-month pilot, Cappagh Browne quickly installed Samsara’s Vehicle Gateway and AI Dash Cams across its fleet of vehicles. 

"We had two team members self-install Samsara in over 250 vehicles in just 9 weeks. It was lightning-fast plug-and-play,” said Reid. “In the end, they had it down to about 12 minutes per install, which is a testament to how easy the system is to set up.” 

From day one, Samsara gave operations staff complete visibility into vehicle locations, trip timelines, harsh driving events, idling, and recorded video footage. The best part? Everything is uploaded to the cloud automatically — a dramatic upgrade over the previous memory card-based system. 

“There’s no waiting around,” said Reid. “As soon as the system registers a risky event, I’m notified for review. It’s seamless.” 

With insights into how drivers are acting while they’re out on the roads, Cappagh Browne can review and provide targeted coaching on risky behaviours like harsh braking, seatbelt infringements, and the biggest offender: speeding. 

“Now, we know where the vehicle is, who is driving it thanks to the AI, and how they’re driving it,” said Reid. “If there’s an instance where a driver needs coaching, I can pull up the footage, speak to the driver, and hold them accountable.”

Full visibility into driver behaviour also enabled Cappagh Browne to curb excessive vehicle idling. Using Samsara’s idling cost data, the business demonstrated the true extent of fuel waste to drivers and educated them on how to minimise the major causes, such as leaving the heating on in empty vehicles and idling when parked.

Encouraging and rewarding safe driving

With Samsara providing detailed analytics, tracking, and insights into driver behaviour, Cappagh Browne can now create an effective safety strategy built on accurate, relevant data. The team has also started to use Samsara’s video footage to inform their training sessions. 

“One week after our first stand-down safety session, we reduced adverse driving behaviours by 95%,” said Reid. “It’s all about awareness. Once drivers understood the risks, they were motivated to self-correct unsafe habits themselves. Educating drivers on best practice around vehicle idling as well is paying  dividends – we’ve already seen a 10% reduction in overall fuel spend.”

As an added incentive, the operations team also launched competitions rewarding the top-performing drivers in each county with A prizes. Reid sums it up:

"Safe driving is the law, but if you can sweeten the deal with a little competition, then everyone will compete to be the best.” 

What’s next for Cappagh Browne

Cappagh Browne is looking forward to growing alongside Samsara and advocating for the technology in all areas of the industry. 

“We’re 100% behind Samsara. I’d advocate it for any business, it’s a proven platform for safety, and I think everyone can get behind that,” said Reid.