By offering greater visibility of daily jobs, as well as reduced paperwork, digital fleet management systems can make it simpler for operators to control tasks such as vehicle checks, proof of delivery and parts monitoring.
Such systems are also highly useful tools for transport firms looking to maximise time and reduce operating costs as they expand their companies.
For example, Whippet, the 105-year-old Cambridgeshire bus company has transformed its fleet management with software from Freeway Fleet Systems.
Prior to switching to a fully digital system, Whippet relied on paper and spreadsheets to manage their fleet maintenance.
Whippet introduced tablets running Freeway’s mobile WebApps software back in 2015 and now uses a new cloud-based version of Freeway for driver walkaround checks.
The operator utilises Freeway to manage maintenance of its fleet that includes double-deckers and coaches.
Freeway is used across engineering providing digital job cards and inspection sheets, re-torquing, compliance management, and the system manages parts for auto-replenishment of stocks.
Whippet has introduced dashboards that give an immediate view of all daily activity on a large screen.
Scot Nicholetti, Engineering Manager at Whippet said: “Introducing Freeway was completely transformational.
“Previously we had very little visibility of what was going on in the workshop, but with engineers using tablets we now have live and detailed insight into everything going on.
“Engineers also take photographs whilst on the job and that’s particularly useful as a record of defects and work done.
“Probably the biggest benefit of Freeway is that it gives us a proper insight into our costs; something we just didn’t have before.
“We can then undertake cost analytics to minimise wastage, streamline stocks and with visibility of maintenance histories we can identify recurring defects, manage warranties and use parts more efficiently.”
Seras UK, based in Widnes, is a specialist in the bulk transportation and supply of wood waste biomass energy, running 125 vehicles.
The company has been using the Mandata Enterprise Transport Management System for several years, with the system offering a simpler way to manage its work.
Within the Mandata transport planning module, the drag and drop functionality – whether planning for full load or multi-drop jobs – allows planners to easily plot and amend drop off points as they see fit, and accommodates a more efficient planning process.
Lacey Jevons, Head of Projects and Service Delivery said: “The drag-and-drop traffic pad has just made things so much better.
“As an example, we had a system that didn’t have drag and drop, and we had staff that had trouble working at a pace that was required, and others with less technical ability struggling.
“With Mandata, even with new or trainee transport planners, they find it so easy to pick up. Even our most experienced transport planners, that planned with paper for years, have easily adopted Mandata.”
Aiming to further their journey to becoming fully paper-free, the team at Seras are currently exploring Mandata’s Manifest app for electronic proof of delivery.
The Manifest app allows drivers to digitally capture signatures, and photos for proof of delivery when completing jobs.
Not only does this speed up the document return policy, as they automatically upload to the TMS once the delivery is signed for, but it also relinquishes the administrative burden on the office staff, as they no longer need to scan and process every piece of paper.
Jevons added: “We are in the midst of testing the Manifest app. We’ve been itching to get Manifest for a long time, to go digital with our proof of delivery.”
Meanwhile, Cambridgeshire-based SR Harradine, which employs 40 staff, has transitioned from pen and paper planning to a new TMS from HaulTech.
The family-run business works in bulk haulage, operating a fleet of 30 trucks that moves up to 5,000 tonnes of aggregates and muckaway on a daily basis.
SR Harradine has five people using HaulTech and the technology has also streamlined the way transport planners communicate with the drivers.
Before, staff had to text them their work individually, which took up a large portion of the day, but now the system automatically updates the drivers.
Bryn Harradine, Operations and Transport Manager said: “It has definitely helped us to become more efficient. It enabled us to grow and have better access to important information – as when I was writing it all in a book only one person could see it or use it at any given time.
“Now multiple people can get involved, inputting jobs or providing customers with ETAs for deliveries.
“HaulTech is like a one-stop shop for us. We use it for everything from adding jobs onto the system through to electronic proof of delivery and invoicing.
“One of the things we really like is that we can add on more functionality as the business grows.”
Svella Connect, the telecoms and digital infrastructure giant, has been focusing on improving efficiency and productivity following its acquisition of NMCN, formerly North Midland Construction, in 2022.
It has reportedly improved fleet efficiency within six months, reducing accidents by 40% and boosting resource efficiencies by 25%, thanks to an initiative supported by Webfleet, Bridgestone’s fleet management division.
Furthermore, Webfleet is being used to improve safety relating to its fleet of 440 vans and 40 HGVs by mandating drivers to complete vital vehicle checks before each journey.
Peter Jones, Head of Fleet Optimisation at Svella Connect said: “We inherited hundreds of legacy vehicles with defects which had gone unreported for 18 months, hire vehicles with thousands of pounds worth of damage and less than half of drivers bothering with vehicle checks.
“Now we are leveraging Webfleet’s vehicle check app to great effect. Around 99% of all our drivers now complete a vehicle compliance check every morning with a direct line to the fleet maintenance team.
“This is having a massive impact on fleet maintenance costs and driver safety compliance.”
Over the next few years, with the workplace becoming increasingly digitised, the trend for transport firms to adopt highly sophisticated fleet management technology as they look to improve efficiency and reduce costs should continue.
