At a glance

Organisation: JAO Groundworks Ltd

Fleet: ~45 road vehicles (predominantly Transit vans, including a fitter’s van and a tipper)

Primary goals: To manage the fleet effectively. Improve safety, demonstrate stronger fleet governance to insurers, protect brand reputation, and gain visibility as the business grows.

Outcomes: Reduced out‑of‑hours use and idling; improved driver behaviour; faster maintenance coordination; stronger protection when complaints or disputes arise.

The background

JAO Groundworks is a growing business with a busy, branded fleet operating across multiple active sites. For Mike Ackling, fleet oversight is part of a wider safety remit: keeping people safe on site and ensuring vehicles on public roads are operated responsibly and within the law.

With the fleet expanding quickly, JAO needed better visibility and control, both to uphold its safety standards and to demonstrate to insurers that the business is actively managing risk.

The challenges

• Most vehicles weren’t being tracked. As the fleet grew, tracking coverage fell behind, leaving major gaps in oversight.
• Branded vehicles increased reputational risk. When members of the public reported concerns, JAO needed a reliable way to investigate quickly and fairly.
• Insurer expectations required proof. It wasn’t enough to say the fleet was being managed well; JAO needed evidence of effective controls and safe practices.
• Driver behaviour and running costs mattered. Beyond location, JAO wanted insight into speeding, harsh driving events, idling, and wear and tear, plus the operational disruption that comes with incidents.
• Fuel misuse was a real risk. Without linking fuel usage to vehicle journeys and locations, it’s harder to spot anomalies or address issues decisively.

The solution: Fleet tracking and fuel card integration with practical weekly reporting

After Asa Hooper joined as Plant & Fleet Manager, JAO Groundworks sought a new, data-centric vehicle tracking solution. The fleet had grown significantly, to the point where over 75% of the vehicles weren’t being tracked at all.

Asa explained, “We decided to invest in a tracking system to keep track of where our vehicles are, to better monitor movement between the different sites we’ve got going on at the minute, and to understand driving behaviour, which interested us the most.”

Visibility across vehicles and sites

JAO could see where vehicles were and better monitor movement between job sites, improving operational coordination and cutting down on time‑consuming phone calls. Radius vehicle tracking is designed to provide location visibility, trip history and reporting to support day‑to‑day fleet management.

Driver behaviour insights that support a safety culture

Rather than focusing only on speed, JAO used tracking insights to reinforce safer, more responsible driving. Kinesis reporting includes driver behaviour signals such as speeding and harsh events, helping them to identify risk and act.

Fuel accountability through integration

Mike Ackling, Safety Manager at JAO Groundworks, highlights, “One of the big benefits of having both the fuel card and the tracking from the same provider is that we can see where the vehicle is when the fuel card is being used. That allows us to cut out any fraud or bits and pieces that the lads might be up to. We can also monitor fuel usage per vehicle.”

How JAO uses Kinesis

JAO embedded the tracking data into a weekly rhythm, focusing on three key reports:

1. Driver behaviour score report: a combined view of speeding, harsh cornering, harsh braking, and other infringements
2. Out‑of‑hours report: highlighting unexpected or unauthorised usage patterns
3. Idling report: pinpointing avoidable fuel waste and wear

This approach gave JAO a practical way to coach drivers, reduce risk, and improve consistency without overcomplicating day‑to‑day management. Kinesis is built around reporting and fleet insights to support these types of operational reviews.

The results

Reduced out‑of‑hours use and idling. JAO saw a reduction in out‑of‑hours usage and idling time, both strong indicators of tighter fleet control and more efficient vehicle use.

Improved driver behaviour. With consistent visibility into driving events, driver behaviour improved, supporting JAO’s safety‑first culture and helping protect employees and the public.

Faster maintenance coordination with fewer phone calls. When maintenance is needed, JAO can identify a vehicle's location and direct the fitter accordingly, removing delays and reducing internal back-and-forth.

Protection for drivers and the business when complaints arise. Tracking data helped JAO handle public complaints fairly and quickly. In one example, Mike used the system to confirm a van wasn’t at the alleged location at the time of a reported incident, providing reassurance and protection for the driver involved.

Looking ahead and supporting rapid growth

Mike commented, “JAO is going to grow, and it’s going to grow rapidly, so we need tools like this in place to help us properly manage the business.”

Asa concluded, “I would absolutely recommend Radius to other people. I’m not especially tech‑savvy; I can operate a machine really well, but a computer is a different story. So if I can use it, anyone can.”