Traffic jams '˜costing us a fortune'

The TomTom Traffic Index is said to have found traffic in the city increases the time each vehicle spends on the road by 122 hours a year – more than 15 working days.

This is reckoned to mean millions are squandered through time spent sitting in traffic for the 30,800 commercial vehicles operated in Glasgow.

TomTom Telematics UK and Ireland director Beverley Wise said: “Traffic congestion may be seen as a fact of life for every driver but, cumulatively, it is taking a heavy toll on the UK economy and this should not be accepted as an inevitability.

“Making the most of billable time is key to profitability for any business, so organisations that rely heavily on a mobile workforce must look for ways to maximise the time employees spend actually doing jobs by minimising time spent on the road.

“Through smarter planning, routing and scheduling, companies can help their drivers to better avoid traffic, which could not only have an impact on productivity but also customer service.

“Previous research conducted by TomTom Telematics among UK van drivers found 90 per cent admit to arriving late for customer appointments – with 93 per cent citing traffic as the reason.”

She argues that telematics solutions – using GPS technology to plan ways of dodging traffic disruption – can help make commercial traffic logisitics more efficient.