Security for National Blood

The National Blood Service has completed a major programme to modernise the bulk diesel fuelling facilities located at its principle regional depots throughout England. As well as reducing costs and improving efficiency, the investment has provided the basis for implementing green transport measures.

New storage tanks meeting the latest standards for the protection of the environment have been installed by Ledbury Welding Ltd. Each of the tanks are self-contained Derv Packs equipped with Merridale Auditor FS integral diesel pumps and control units.

Developed by MIS Fuel Monitoring of Wolverhampton, the Auditor units record all fuelling transactions for central processing at the National Blood Service's fleet services department in Manchester. The data is combined with external fuelling information for analysis of fleet mileage and fuel consumption, by region and by individual vehicles.

The investment carries forward the NBS strategy for the harmonisation of best working practices across the organisation, a key element of its remit following the move in 2000, to deliver a national service from that previously run by individual regional blood authorities.

It has also been recognised with the award to the NBS of an immediate three star rating under the government sponsored 'Motorvate' scheme. Organised by the DTI TransportEnergy, initiative, this scheme is designed to promote positive action for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Commenting on the scheme, National Fleet Manager, Larry Bannon explains: "The National Blood Service operates a total fleet of 475 vehicles, ranging from estate cars for emergency response to mini-buses, and fully equipped mobile donation clinics, based on HGVs and articulated trailer units."

"All of these require fuelling facilities, either from regional depots or out on the road. Currently the NBS fleet covers some 9 million miles a year. We are hoping to reduce that by becoming more efficient under our environmental strategy. With an annual fuel bill of around £1.3 million, any measurable improvement will result in significant potential savings on our operating costs."

"Basically we are operating more cost effectively by taking advantage of buying at bulk fuel prices. And the data that we get from the monitoring system allows us to set strategic management direction for procurement of vehicles and control of the whole fleet."

"Another key benefit is that it supports our obligations for the protection of the environment. By having our own bulk fuel we can choose the fuel that we want to put into our tanks. Currently NBS is looking at alternatives such as bio-fuel. Without the bulk fuel facility we would not have any way of managing this strategy."

"As well as measuring fuel usage, the system also monitors fuel stocks to a degree that was not possible previously. We can set reserve levels at different locations with automatic warnings when we are approaching those levels. As deliveries take place we get details of date, time and amount so that we can update the system."

"At the recent year-end stock check, we were able to record the exact amount of fuel in the storage tanks at each regional centre. We could also calculate the exact cost of fuel in the tanks and what the current drawing rate is, centre by centre, in order to calculate the budget requirements for next year."

"Also, since we are an emergency service, another important advantage is that it gives us some confidence and security that fuel is available to us, as and when we need it. During the fuel crisis of 2000, the NBS only had seven sites equipped with bulk fuel facilities, and these were not necessarily in the most strategic locations to ensure continuity of service."

"We have learnt from this experience and have built up an effective security blanket to ensure that, should there be another fuel crisis, we will be able to ensure continuity of service."

The NBS has 15 centres around the country covering most of the major cities from Newcastle in North, to Plymouth in the south west. Internal fuel facilities are now operational in nine sites and another three are scheduled for commissioning during 2005.

Outside of the regional centres, NBS has 75 operating bases, where drivers usually obtain fuel on-the-road. Every NBS vehicle is allocated with a swipe card issued by an external fuel service agency. As well as enabling drivers to obtain fuel on-the-road, this card can also be used to access the depot fuel facilities whenever possible.

All these transactions, whether they originate from external or internal supplies, are consolidated within the central reporting system. In operation, NBS receive electronic data from the card agency in a format which can be imported into the Merridale system where it is cleansed to remove corrupt mileages and mistyped registration numbers. The data is then passed up to the NBS fleet management system where it gets incorporated into the reports for departmental costs and whole life running costs of each vehicle, based on the mileage information from the fuel cards and the price paid for fuel.