Parcel carrier City Link is investing £2 million in new hand-held scanners for all of its drivers to improve efficiency, effectiveness and provide a better service to customers.
The 2,500 scanners are being phased in on a depot by depot basis in time for the Christmas peak and every driver who represents City Link will be given one of the new Motorola MC67 models to use.
So effective were the new scanners during an initial trial at one of City Link’s largest depots, in Bristol, that there was a dramatic reduction in the number of people making enquiries about the progress of their deliveries.
Liam Tucker, City Link’s Operations Director said: “The trial showed a phenomenal improvement in scanner accuracy with the new Motorola MC67 hand-held scanners and we are delighted with the results.
“When these new handheld scanners were trialled in Bristol depot, customer inbound call volumes dropped by over 40%, driven by improved visibility of consignments and on-the-road monitoring of drivers.
“During the trial the scanners led to better availability of tracking information through our self-service channels, such as My City Link, enabling customers to see clearly where their consignments were.
“Drivers in Bristol were very impressed with the scanners’ performance and we believe our customers will reap real benefits once the scanners are rolled out across our whole network. We are very excited about the prospects.
“The Motorola MC67s are very robust and can read practically any barcode in almost any condition which makes it easier for our drivers to get it ‘right first time’ – the philosophy we are embedding throughout City Link.”
The scanners can take and send photos and have an 8MP camera that is able to take pictures in low light conditions, enabling drivers to record clear images of addresses where they have left a ‘Sorry you were out’ card.
They have a longer battery life than the previous models used by City Link and each has an in-cab charger to avoid problems with flat batteries. All are equipped with integrated SAT NAV which will prove invaluable with new drivers and temporary drivers, especially during the Christmas peak period.
City Link has invested in a series of improvements to operations nationwide this year, including the introduction of ‘On Our Way’ message alerts to people advising them of a two-hour slot in which their parcel will arrive, with a range of options for re-delivery if the time is inconvenient.
