Digital management systems enable firms to maximise time, analyse individual vehicle performance, eliminate recurring defects, and control parts and labour costs.
In addition to giving greater transparency of transport operations, systems like these allow transport firms to accurately identify the costs of running fleets, cut out paperwork, and promote efficiencies as they grow their companies.
Vetspeed, which operates specialist businesses including pet cremation and waste management services, is expanding its use of AssetGo fleet management software to cover about 100 vehicles across five sites.
The business introduced the software in 2023 to replace paper-based processes with a centralised fleet management system.
It uses the system to record daily defect checks, inspections and costs, as well as maintaining records covering vehicle incidents, driver qualifications and plant equipment.
In addition, centralised access has proved particularly useful for monitoring vehicles based at satellite sites.
The company is also using AssetGo’s Earned Recognition dashboard as it prepares to apply for DVSA Earned Recognition in early 2027.
Digitising its fleet processes has reduced administration while improving vehicle lifecycle tracking and the quality of information available to senior management.
Justin Waite, Group Transport Manager, said: “AssetGo has enabled us to ensure daily defect checks are being completed consistently and has improved our ability to monitor vehicle-off-road time.
“Defect tracking, particularly across our satellite sites, is much easier because I have visibility of the entire fleet from one location.”
Meanwhile, DAW Logistics has streamlined its operations over the past three years after adopting the Mandata system and driver apps to modernise daily workflows.
With customer requirements changing daily, the company selected Mandata for its flexibility, integrated driver communication and visibility through the Manifest app.
The app provides real‑time job progress, automatic POD uploads and instant updates for customers who no longer need to chase the haulier for updates.
In‑app messaging and automatic job amendments remove the need for drivers to stop and take calls, allowing them to focus fully on the road.
Instant digital PODs also mean the company no longer waits days for paperwork to return to the office.
Meanwhile, the system enables the company to track empty miles, assign appropriate vehicles and plan more efficient routes.
DAW Logistics estimates the system is saving about 45 minutes a day on planning alone.
For example, it used to take administrators from 7am to 12 noon every Monday to scan and record all the documents, but now it takes eight minutes.
Helen Mook, Operations Administrator and Storage Manager, said: “The fact that customers could sign on a driver’s app and we would have a POD sent instantly back to the office and attached to the job, was one of the big reasons we chose Mandata.
“Ever since we first started the TMS, from the planning side of it, to the invoicing side, it has been fantastic.
“It has made things so much simpler for everyone in the business, as well as our customers.”
Independent commercial vehicle repairer, The Truck Doctor, has a five-bay workshop in Leicestershire and has been offering support to truck, trailer, bus and coach operators since 2010.
Today the site offers a range of repair and maintenance services to commercial vehicle operators across the East Midlands and beyond.
The firm recently found a cure for an invoicing problem, by linking Tranzaura Group’s Truckfile Workshop Management system to Sage Accounting software.
Connecting the two means that details of jobs carried out and parts fitted by Truck Doctor’s technicians are automatically imported to the invoicing system, saving time and reducing the risk of human error.
Alan Phillips, Truck Doctor Director, said: “Now, when a technician works on a vehicle, Truckfile records every task completed and each part used.
“Then when I price the job up and sign it off, I can export it directly to Sage, so the invoice is automatically filled out.
“Truckfile works equally seamlessly across the board and has really helped to streamline our operation.”
Brewers Decorator Centres is also rolling out the Podfather planning, route optimisation, and electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) solution across its nationwide network of sites.
Once completed, it is expected that the project will provide the company with access to detailed KPI and management reports relating to vehicle utilisation, customer experience, costs, and emissions.
Family-run Brewers operates more than 200 stores across England to serve both trade and retail customers, and its 90,000 products use a fleet of more than 150 vehicles ranging from 7.5 tonne trucks to smaller vans.
Stock is moved from a central distribution centre in the Midlands to regional hubs that service the branch network.
Podfather helps customers receive notifications once their goods are out for delivery.
This is something the company hopes to build on when rollout is completed, with real-time email and SMS updates.
Comprehensive ePOD evidence, with the ability to capture and share date-, time- and location-stamped photographs and signatures, is also improving the customer experience.
Karen Larr, Central Operations Manager, said: “Each store had its own way of doing things but, by looking at the bigger picture, we can see how to use our fleet more efficiently which is already having an impact on the miles travelled.
“This is not only good for the environment, but also beneficial for our business as the resources can be better deployed.”
Technology like this, thanks to its simplification of everyday tasks, reduction in errors and time savings, means business owners can focus more on growth and less on administrative tasks.
