ND Brown maintains safety with Sentinel
Commercial vehicle hire and hot box specialist ND Brown has explained how its decision to install camera and cyclist safety systems from technology provider Sentinel has helped it to maintain best practice and compliance standards.
Headquartered in Wolverhampton and with five regional depots across the UK, ND Brown runs over 750 trucks supplying the utility, civil engineering, municipal, and road maintenance sectors, including hot box hire, tipper hire, tipper grabs and a range of specialist municipal vehicles such as road sweepers, gully emptiers, and skip loaders.
Sentinel Systems manufactures, installs, and maintains a range of vehicle safety solutions. As a FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) Associate, the company says it can advise, supply, and fit the exact packages needed to achieve or maintain compliance.
ND Brown wanted to raise industry standards and looked to new technology to promote best practice and reduce the risk on the road, especially the safety of vulnerable road users. It chose Sentinel to install its camera and cyclist safety systems; and after an initial trial phase six years ago, the successful rollout now sees over 150 new vehicles being kitted out each year.
Sentinel’s in-house installation team liaises directly with ND Brown’s various body builders to fit the solution appropriate for the vehicle type, before delivery to ND Brown. Side vision cameras, with cycle hotspot systems, and side protection solutions, provide drivers with a clear view while driving and manoeuvring the rental vehicle. They help reduce the possibility of accidents, as well as giving the driver additional confidence and reassurance.
When required, Sentinel also provides additional equipment such as multi-camera systems for 360-degree all-round vision, recording devices, and live video playback functionality through Sentry Live View.
“Sentinel liaises directly with our body builders so it’s stress-free for us,” explained Harry Brown, operations director at ND Brown.
“All new vehicles are fully ready for hire when delivered and have passed our internal audit process.”
He added: “Having our fleet accredited with FORS is great for us, in fact, nearly all of our customers insist on it so it’s useful we were so ahead of the game with fitting Sentinel’s equipment to all new vehicles. They’ve also advised us on many compliance issues when we’ve had queries from customers.”
Sentinel’s camera and cyclist safety systems are now installed on all new vehicles ordered by ND Brown. Sentinel has been proactive in helping ND Brown by fitting beacons in addition to its normal range of safety equipment.
“The fact Sentinel do this whilst the vehicles are still in build, saves us a lot of time and allows us to hire them out more quickly when they arrive with us,” Harry continued.
With customers all over the UK, it’s vital ND Brown has a dedicated service and maintenance team to call on if anything goes wrong. Sentinel ensures all maintenance and repairs are carried out by the same in-house team that installed the systems.
“We appreciate that Sentinel is able to react quickly when a vehicle is damaged during operation,” added Alex Gallan, fleet and maintenance coordinator at ND Brown.
“The support team help us to quickly get our vehicles out for re-hire which is vital for us.”
