The charity, which delivers more than two million free treatments to sick and injured pets each year, is funded by donations from the public and keeping costs down is of vital importance. As such, the PDSA has introduced the TMC Mileage Audit system to capture and analyse fuel and mileage data for the vans driven by its stock collectors, who keep the charity’s 170-plus retail shops supplied with items donated by the public.
 
The result has been a substantial reduction in the administration time needed to process mileage reports, and extract much better data for analysis. Drivers report their trips directly to the TMC Mileage Audit online system each month. TMC imports fuel card transaction data and combines it with the mileage data to provide accurate figures for fuel consumption, pence per mile costs and other measurements.
 
The system has been designed to be fail-proof. Mandatory fields ensure that drivers must enter all the trip details needed by head office and to ensure compliance. TMC reminds drivers by text or email when it’s time to submit mileage reports. If they don’t, the system alerts their line manager.
 
PDSA fleet manager, Liz Bagnall, said: 'We now have more time to analyse information, whereas before it was all about inputting it. And we can be smarter in our fuel spend. TMC will help us develop our vehicle policies in the future using the data from the Mileage Audit system. For example, we may be able to further reduce fuel costs by reviewing journey details and look to see if we can improve journey planning and mpg rates.'
 
The system has also helped PDSA to ensure that it complies with its Duty of Care obligation towards drivers. As well as capturing mileage, it requires each driver to complete regular safety statements, including confirming that they have a valid driving licence, are still eligible to drive, enter the number of points on their driving licence and agree to the terms and conditions of the PDSA driver handbook.