A Safe Investment For Rollins Orkin
Published: September 2011, Connected World Magazine
A fleet management system can do more than increase safety and efficiency; it can also
help a company cut down on the insurance premiums it pays for its fleet of vehicles.
Every Tuesday at 10:30 AM, Mike Gibney of Rollins Orkin sits down with his cup of coffee,
about seven team members, and a three-letter agenda, GPS. As director of claims and
loss control at Rollins Orkin, Gibney spends the next 45 minutes discussing all things
GPS. “We have policies that revolve around GPS,” says Gibney. “We have rules that
govern driving behavior, and it’s had a huge impact on the amount of insurance we’re
having to pay out.”
And he isn’t exaggerating. Since implementing GPS into its service fleet 11 years ago,
Rollins, which owns well-known Orkin, has saved as much as $40 million per year.
“We have dramatically reduced our cost of risk,” Gibney says. “Back in 1996, 7% of
revenue was going to insurance. Now, we are only spending about 2.2% on claims and
insurance.”
What’re more is the company and its employees are safer. Accidents are down from
about 33% of the fleet in 1996 to only 9% last year. Workers’ compensation claims have
decreased from about 25% of the workforce to 11%.
How can a GPS system save the 20th largest fleet in the nation millions of dollars in
insurance costs? Gibney says it’s a matter of tracking unsafe driver behaviors like
speeding, seatbelt use, and after-hours usage, and then implementing and enforcing a
progressive discipline plan.
Using the Geotab GO Device, the GPS tracking system uses a patented trip recording
method as well as Driver ID option that monitors driving performance by individual
employee, a great feature if employees have to switch vehicles.
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