Leading Food Logistics Company Installs Sentinel’s Advanced Systems for Extra Safety

Reynolds, one of the UK’s leading fresh produce suppliers to the foodservice industry, is the latest company to adopt Sentinel Systems’ advanced vehicle safety systems for its large fleet of delivery vehicles.

Sentinel has supplied and installed its reversing cameras and side-scan detection systems to all of the larger vehicles within Reynolds’ ever growing fleet, to offer complete protection for its drivers.

Reynolds operates from its National Distribution Centre based in Hertfordshire and five regional depots. The company prides itself in offering excellent customer service and next day delivery across the UK, 365 days a year. Reynolds’ broad customer base includes many leading operators in the foodservice industry, including Pizza Express, Pret a Manger and Carluccio’s, to name a few.

Steve White, Transport Manager at Reynolds commented, “As a company we made the decision to install Sentinel’s reversing and side-scan camera systems to all vehicles over 12 tonnes, as part of our commitment to maintaining top health and safety standards. With many of our vehicles delivering to customers within inner London, we also feel that it is extremely important to take all possible measures to improve the safety of our vehicles according to the latest TfL regulations.

Steve continued, “Sentinel’s products were recommended to us by FORS for being good quality and reliable safety systems. In turn, I would recommend them to other companies wishing to improve the safety of their fleets. Since installing the systems we have received great feedback from our drivers and feel that both their safety and driving awareness has improved.”

Reynolds flexible fleet of over 252 mixed-weight vehicles operates daily and as a result is exposed to challenging driving conditions, including the difficulty of manoeuvring safely in pedestrianised and congested areas, with potentially poor visibility of the vehicle’s surroundings.

Such difficulties are just two of the many causes of frequent collisions for all road users, especially those involving commercial vehicles. In adopting Sentinel’s reversing cameras and side-scan detection systems, Reynolds has reduced the likelihood of such accidents by improving awareness of driving conditions and giving drivers improved confidence to operate safely on a day to day basis.

The company has installed Sentinel’s reversing cameras to offer a better rear-view, to ensure drivers are fully aware of potential hazards when reversing. Linked to an in-cab mobile monitor, drivers can detect passing pedestrians, cyclists or other obstructions, enabling them to take caution and ultimately prevent an accident, as well as damage to the vehicle or third-party property.

Sentinel also installed its side-scan camera detection system to work alongside the reversing cameras. The side-scan system is designed to detect vulnerable road users within the vehicle’s blind spot, which the driver would have previously been completely unaware of. A large vehicle turning left is a considerable threat for cyclists in particular as they are unaware of the vehicles intentions and cannot be seen by the driver. Also linked to the in-cab monitor, the side-scan cameras detect the cyclists, giving drivers the time to wait for the hazard to clear before pulling away. The side-scan system can be connected to Sentinel’s award winning Bike Hotspot system to offer the ultimate protection for cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

The two camera systems linked to the in-cab monitor can also provide extra confidence for fleet operators, as they can record and play back crucial evidence of any accidents or theft incidents. With a 1 Terabyte hard drive, the unit will record for over 30 days and can be extracted and easily reviewed by staff to provide untampered evidence in the event of an accident or a fraudulent insurance claim.

With over 30 years industry experience, Sentinel Systems has developed many vehicle safety solutions for commercial vehicles of all sizes and can develop bespoke product packages to meet the safety requirements for each fleet. Its range of cameras, radar systems and recording units are all installed by the company’s team of nationwide engineers throughout the year, with 24/7 maintenance support available to ensure vehicles and system downtime is kept to a minimum.