Delifresh cuts insurance costs by 61% and builds a driver-led safety culture with Samsara

“The trust and confidence we have built with our team stands us all in good stead. Our drivers now ooze confidence in us, in Samsara, and openly engage through the rough and the smooth.” Andrew Sharp, Transport Shift Manager, Delifresh

Standout Benefits

• 71% reduction in insurance reporting time for accidents

• 54% reduction in unnecessary redelivery miles

• 35% reduction in distracted driving

• 41% reduction in road incident frequency despite doubling mileage

• 61% reduction in average insurance claim cost per vehicle over three years

Keeping eyes on the road ahead

Delifresh serves over 2,000 customers across the UK catering and hospitality industry, making 1,200-1,500 multi-drop deliveries daily. With approximately 150 drivers covering 100 different routes from Brighton to Glasgow, the company faced growing pains from rapid expansion.

Their outdated tracking systems couldn't provide the granular insights needed to protect drivers and improve efficiency. As a values-driven organisation, Delifresh needed a solution that would align with their person-centric approach while enhancing safety and compliance.

The turning point came after a significant accident caused by driver drowsiness. For Delifresh, this incident highlighted the urgent need for better visibility into driver behaviour and more effective safety measures. Prior to fully leveraging Samsara, 40% of Delifresh's drivers exhibited distracted driving behaviors, putting themselves and others at risk.

Building a new safety culture

Delifresh's journey with Samsara accelerated after attending a Samsara User Group which proved to be particularly eye-opening. "We were using the platform extensively," said Andrew Sharp, Transport Shift Manager at Delifresh. "But our honest assessment on reflection is that we were not understanding and respecting the totality of what it was showing us."

Armed with new-found knowledge, the company went ahead and activated drowsiness detection safety alerts through Samsara AI Dash Cams. The amount of drivers yawning and exhibiting fatigue was startling, which led to the development of Delifresh's 2025 Transport Mission Statement: "Self Awareness Could Save a Life."

Rather than taking a punitive approach to the high rate of distracted driving, management provided self-awareness support, giving drivers time to adjust while investing in education through toolbox talks, one-on-one coaching sessions, and classroom training. 

As part of their education push, Delifresh also implemented Connected Training一developing over 70 custom courses covering everything from safety talks to British Retail Consortium General Standards training required for the food industry.

Learning curves and collective responsibility

Investment into awareness certainly paid dividends for employee engagement. The Connected Training platform has seen 3,204 courses assigned with a 95.2% completion rate, with 151 out of 163 colleagues (93%) achieving 100% compliance. Within four months, Delifresh has also completed over 160 coaching sessions addressing various driving behaviours.

What truly demonstrates the cultural shift is how drivers have developed their own strategies to combat fatigue after seeing their drowsiness footage. One driver now sets evening alarms to remind himself when to go to bed before his shift, while another puts on music and sings along at the top of his voice to stay alert while on the road. 

Most tellingly, drivers have begun to look out for each other. In one instance a driver reported that a colleague had run a red light一not to get them in trouble, but because he wanted to help keep his colleague safe. This peer-to-peer accountability demonstrates how deeply embedded the safety culture has become.

Reaping the rewards of safety

Delifresh’s focus on safety culture and awareness has translated into impressive improvements. Despite nearly doubling their mileage from 1.8 million to 3.3 million miles, Delifresh improved their road traffic incident frequency by 41%, going from one incident every 23,462 miles to one every 39,612 miles.

Their road accident management procedure now incorporates a Samsara form that provides drivers with clear direction during stressful post-accident situations while giving fleet managers immediate oversight of key event information. This process has reduced the average time to report accidents from 21 days to 6 days一a 71% improvement that has had significant financial implications.

The annual claims cost per vehicle has decreased consistently over three years, dropping from £2,403 to £934 by the end of 2024一a 61% reduction. The company's insurers have been so impressed with their safety processes that they now waive Delifresh's £1,000 excess when accident report forms are forwarded to them the same day the incident occurs.

Making work flow with efficiency

Delifresh’s use of Connected Workflows extends beyond just accident response. The company now processes approximately 30,000 forms per month through the platform, including daily vehicle inspections, defect reporting, and cleaning schedules.

Most innovative has been their development of "account flows"一essentially digital proof of delivery documents that incorporate vehicle fridge temperatures, delivery photos, location data, and digital signatures. These workflows have enabled live interception and review of customer delivery queries and timely rectification by drivers while still in the vicinity.

This approach has had dramatic effects on efficiency. In 2023, Delifresh completed 907 redeliveries covering 39,908 miles, with 33,946 classified as "unnecessary miles." In 2024, despite increasing their total mileage by 54%, they reduced unnecessary redelivery miles to just 15,514. This not only saved fuel and reduced emissions but also decreased risk exposure by keeping vehicles off the road.

Taking culture a step further

Building on their success so far, Delifresh is now looking to expand the use of Samsara throughout the organisation. As they move into a new state-of-the-art facility, the company plans to integrate Samsara's solutions into warehouse operations, as well as food, technical, and compliance support teams.

For Delifresh, the partnership with Samsara has evolved far beyond a typical vendor relationship. "We are one team: Delifresh and Samsara," said Andrew. "The approach, the attitudes, the values of everyone at Samsara epitomises the values we carry."