Colas, which operates a fleet of some 1,110 units including company cars, light commercial vehicles, HGVs, trailers and plant, is an ambitious, award-winning business, delivering sustainable solutions for the design, building and maintenance of the UK’s transport infrastructure.

Headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, a diverse portfolio of clients include the Highways Agency, local authorities, Ministry of Defence, the aviation industry and the private sector – contractors, consultants, architects and utility companies.

Jaama’s Key 2 Vehicle Management system, including Workshop Control, will be used by Colas’s plant and transport organisation, which is an internal purchasing and maintenance management division for the company’s 12 operating businesses.

Additionally, the plant and transport business operates six vehicle maintenance depots across the UK including a workshop in East Sussex as a result of winning a contract to maintain the vehicle fleet operated by East Sussex County Council. 

Trevor Purfield, Plant and Transport manager for Colas, said: 'We use a paper-based system to manage the fleet, although there is a software system that we inherited as a result of securing the council contract which we use to manage that fleet and external clients.'

However, Aone+, a joint venture business involving Colas, introduced a fleet management system last year and after surveying the marketplace opted for Key2 Vehicle Management.

Mr Purfield explained: 'We had some involvement in that selection process and then decided it would also be beneficial to have a sophisticated web-enabled fleet management system ourselves.'

He added: 'A paper-based system is hugely burdensome in terms of time management and being able to efficiently and effectively manage individual vehicle costs in relation to a range of issues including fuel use, maintenance and incident management.

'We anticipate having Key2 fully implemented during the first half of 2012 and it will deliver valuable assistance in terms of managing vehicles, drivers and costs across the board. Additionally, our depot-based transport managers as well as workshop staff colleagues in each of the divisions will be able to view all vehicle-related information at the press of a button.

'As each business unit is a cost centre in terms of vehicle maintenance, staff will be able to view data when convenient to them without reference to ourselves relating to individual vehicles they are responsible for to ensure spending remains under control and within their budgets. Additionally, Key2 provides each business with a wholly visual system so employees can view all vehicle maintenance issues and see the status of repairs.'

In the future, Colas intends to further improve its occupational road risk management compliance by introducing driver licence checks and driver auditing through the Key2 system.

Jaama managing director, Jason Francis (Inset), said: 'Colas operates a hugely diverse fleet operating out of a number of locations and required a system that was capable of being accessible by many employees across those sites.

'The fact that Colas selected Key2 Vehicle Management to handle all matters relating to its fleet ranging from procurement to in-life management, maintenance and ultimately disposal across both vehicles and plant underlines the flexibility of our technology.'