THE DEFINITIVE TRUCKING SITE

June 2009

Heavy vehicle recovery trucks might be the saviours of marooned rigs but how does a specialised truck-towing service like Van Wettens survive during an economic meltdown? By using Fleet Management technology backed by the right people, of course. FleetWatch asked Janine Eatwell, fleet and vehicle risk co-ordinator at Van Wettens Lowbed and Breakdown Service to throw out the ‘tow-hitch’. 

Van Wettens Breakdown Services is a towing and low bed service that has been in operation since 1967 and is the specialist lowbed service to the mining, forestry, farming and manufacturing industries of Mpumalanga. Based in Nelspruit with branches in Malelane, Middelburg, Ermelo, Bethal and Belfast, it also offers cross border vehicle recovery and lowbed services throughout the sub-continent. 

“As a qualified tacho analyst, I  used to chase errant drivers around the Lowveld in search of their tacho charts and then sit laboriously reading off all the data and punching it into spreadsheets to get to the end result. Today, I sit in an office and have all the relevant fleet information sent to me via the FM300 Communicator system, helping me get the best out of a fleet of 58 vehicles and 55 drivers,” says Janine Eatwell. 

According to Eatwell, the FM300 system was implemented in the fleet in September 2006 using a bureau service supplied by Compass Technologies in Durban. “We do, however, run all the reporting ourselves, which enables us to proactively manage vehicle utilisation, monitor driver performance, check up on potential route deviations, and, to let our clients know how soon they can expect to be rescued.” 

Tighter wrecking

Although Van Wettens has its own in-house fuel management system, the FM300 does play a role in managing fuel costs, largely through monitoring and managing vehicle speed. 

“Although difficult to measure since diesel prices have come down - as have kilometres travelled what with the tough times experienced in the industry – our big wreckers (Western Stars) are realising fuel savings of 10 percent through hands-on management of excessive idling and speed,” says Eatwell. 

 Speed Kills. It also causes huge losses in accidents /downtime/claims etc. It is because of this that the speed limit for the Van Wettens fleet is set at 85 km/hr and they are very strict on ensuring adherence to this. 

“The FM300 alerts me via an onscreen ‘pop-up’ the minute a violation occurs and the driver is immediately reprimanded. 

Fatigue can also be avoided through keeping close tabs on driving hours and the duration of breaks taken and also to ensure that the driver is getting his rest in approved safe stopping places,” she says. 

An FM system will, if properly monitored, also help reduce harsh braking, excessive acceleration and high speeds which cause excessive tyre heat and wear, especially in mountainous terrain. 

As regards other operational features, the Vehicle Maintenance screen on the FM300 tells at a glance which vehicles are due for service, when the licence and COF will expire, the current odometer reading and when the last trip was undertaken. Branch managers are alerted timeously as to when their branches’ vehicles need to be serviced and this allows for appropriate vehicle scheduling to ensure availability when workshop time is booked. 

Wreck-free drivers 

The system is also used not only to monitor but also motivate drivers. 

“We have a large notice board in our workshop displaying colourful graphs and lists showing individual driver performance in a very effective way. Drivers can see how the branches perform in ‘inter-branch’ competition and on individual driver levels. They don’t have to interpret lines and lines of data and this has a huge impact on their driving as they want to be at the top and they want to see their bar graph climbing upwards. It has opened a very effective channel of communication between drivers and myself in that they are quick to report faults on their vehicles or onerous experiences while they are on the road that may affect their score,” says Eatwell. 

Feedback on driver performance is also given through to branch managers on a weekly basis, or more frequently if required via emailed reports and analyses. 

“We also run a quarterly in-house Top Ten driver competition where drivers can win cash bonuses, prizes, and certificates. Our initial driver average scores were 91 percent and we are now close on 98 percent. As a result, our drivers are extremely proud and so is everyone else at Van Wettens.” 

Who says technology can’t work towards constant improvements? Van Wettens proves it can.