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Road transport management has come a long way since the 1980s when the only truck data fleet managers had at their disposal came from tacho charts, driver log books and fuel slips. Today, technology is integral to the modern enterprise and those who don't keep up with the latest tech applications run a serious risk of falling off the bandwagon. The road transport industry is extremely price-driven and the most effective way for operators to improve their competitive edge is to lower operating costs by streamlining their business processes. Having good managers and drivers is essential, as is having technologies in place that deliver 'business intelligence' about both truck and driver. This could be simply pinpointing the vehicle's location at any given moment or running reports on a spectrum of criteria to do with the daily efficiency of the truck, determining its lifecycle costs, its 'risk profile' and ultimately, its status on the company balance sheet as a cost centre. FleetWatch's Paul Collings spoke to a number of fleet managers and technology suppliers to ascertain the various business benefits being derived from the plethora of fleet management and tracking solutions on offer today and also where trouble spots and room for improvement lie. 

There's no doubt about it, information and communications technology (ICT) is coming into its own within the road transport industry. A loaded truck is a valuable asset that needs to be monitored to avoid any compromising of that value be it through theft, breakdowns or negligent driving.

Fleet Management Systems (FM) and Stolen Vehicle Recovery systems (SVR) are designed to do different things. Small fleets with a hands-on manager may operate effectively with the limited offerings of an SVR unit but larger fleets need automated solutions to help manage hundreds of vehicles and drivers more effectively. In many cases, a fleet will have an FM system and a backup SVR unit on a vehicle to cover all the 'bases', so to speak. Let's look at some examples of the 'business benefits' these technologies deliver, from the basic to the very complex, by speaking to the people who are actually using different systems to meet different needs.

Stealth saves wealth
Andre van Wyk is the general manager of Imperial Holdings' Risk Division and has been part of a three-year product development process with Electronic Tracking Systems (ETS), fine tuning a wireless tracking unit called mtrack to protect the high-risk loads transported throughout southern Africa by the group's trucks.

"Hijackers know about the many tracking units fitted to truck tractors," he says. "They don't tamper with them now. They hold a gun to the driver's head, unhitch the trailer, hook it behind their own tractor and drive away with the cargo to a warehouse, often taking the poor driver with them to make sure he doesn't call for help." 

Imperial Holdings was losing millions of Rands worth of cargo through hijackings and urgently needed to address the problem. "We needed a totally stand alone unit that didn't rely on the truck's battery to power it. We also wanted a unit with extra-long battery life and small enough to conceal effectively. Most importantly, we needed a system that didn't rely solely on GPS, which needs 'line-of-sight' in order to transmit. If a trailer is in a warehouse, the unit can't 'see' the sky and therefore can't send a signal. That's why we chose mtrack. The unit works off GSM triangulation technology for macro location and then radio beacons (RF) to pinpoint where the vehicle is."

The battery on the mtrack unit lasts for 18 months on moderate activation settings. Imperial has 200 of its trucks fitted with the unit says van Wyk.

"We've managed to recover assets from ten hijackings over the last 18 months with the unit concealed either on the trailer chassis or in the load. We have our own control room that handles the monitoring of both the FM systems and the wireless mtrack unit. On one occasion we picked up via the conventional tracking unit in the tractor that a vehicle had been standing for an hour so we activated the wireless unit and discovered that the trailer was moving, already miles away from the tractor. Fifteen minutes later, we recovered it and arrested the hijackers."

Imperial Group's cargo often runs into millions of Rand and includes 'hot favourites' on the black market, like liquor, TV and hi-fi equipment and tyres. The mtrack system is proving successful in confounding hijackers. Says van Wyk: "The unit is very user-friendly. I can activate it and change its settings from my cell phone. Apart from helping recover loads, it gives us intelligence with regards to criminal operations. We've been led via mtrack to the heart of the criminals' set-up, making a number of arrests and recovering not only our own assets but those of other trucking companies as well."

Accuracy brings business confidence
Cape Town-based Muller Steel, a specialist in the container industry and the largest privately owned fleet in the port, uses DigiCore' C-track system. Says Allison Muller, the company's financial manager: "C-track is an effective monitoring tool that removes any subjectivity from the situation. On many occasions, C-track has provided us with information that has saved the company money as well as the reputation of the driver. The reality is that some clients try to take chances by saying that the vehicle and drivers were late or the services rendered were too basic in the hope that they will incur a discount from their total bill.

"Unbeknown to them, C-track has allowed us to monitor the vehicle and establish its exact location within metres. From simply checking the position of the vehicle and looking at the period of time that it spent at a particular client's premises, we are able to dispel any false information provided by the client, thus saving us money and the driver disciplinary action." 

Muller adds that other benefits delivered by the system include speed control, harsh braking monitoring and establishing the exact location that a particular order needs to reach.

"Yet another feature that has been incredibly helpful is that it assists in the accuracy of quotes. C-track allows us to measure the precise distance between our base and the client's location. As a result we can work out the quote, knowing full well that it is completely accurate," she says.

Zooming in on efficiency improvements
Brian Church is the manager of Highway Group and an ex-Bulktrans senior scheduler. He has many years' experience making sure trucks are loaded optimally and run to strict routes and time schedules.

"The distribution business is extremely time critical," he says, "and having an FM system brings many advantages to the day-to-day operation. We use C-track to help plan our loads better, identify illegal stops and to determine how much time is wasted in the depot or at offload sites. The system allows us to set up 'way points' which signal the base station whenever a truck is approaching or leaving the depot. This helps us prepare the load and perhaps another driver in good time before the truck enters the yard."

The information derived from FM systems is now being used in a marketing sense to give customers more accurate information about delivery times. "C-track monitors average speed and the time it takes to get from point to point which gives us the ability to be pretty exact in our arrival estimations," adds Church.

The system is also utilised to eliminate the expenses incurred from under-servicing of vehicles. "The system registers kilometres, speed and harsh braking. We have the system set up to flag the manager in the event of any infringements to do with the correct running of the vehicle and this has helped save a lot of money not only on fuel but on parts as well. Overall, I'd say we've achieved a 25% improvement across the board, from improved time efficiency as well as cost savings."

Cheaper data transfer
The thing about technology that gets up people's noses is that it changes so fast. Apart from the hard-core propeller-heads, most people are just getting used to their new gizmo when a new technology arrives, making your one-year-old system obsolete.

The FM arena is seeing this with the arrival of 'broadband' data transfer via GPRS and 3G. These technologies allow for much greater volumes of data transfer from truck to office/base at considerably less cost than SMS. The problem for many fleet managers is that most GPS/SMS units cannot be upgraded to GPRS, which means purchasing new units. For Jim Campbell of Unitrans, this is a problem.

"Trying to justify the purchase of replacement technology to accountants is never an easy thing. How do you show the cost benefits if the system isn't in place. At Unitrans we have specific needs and want a system to do exactly what we expect it to do. GPRS is certainly the way to go as far as routing, scheduling and polling is concerned. We are currently reviewing systems. Ultimately we want a flexible system that can integrate with our other logistics software and remove driver intervention completely." 

The advantages of GPRS/3G for fleet managers are not restricted to truck/office communication. Cell phones obviously are the common platform for these technologies and this allows fleet managers to get detailed information about their trucks on their handsets while they move around the planet.
Says Pieter Smits, Global Supply Chain Services (GlobalTrack): "The industry needs to meet the growing demand for mobility in the transport management environment. GlobalTrack has developed a set of tools to do just that. Our new Mobile DataCentre encompasses a suite of tools for the mobile transport executive. Users have the ability to check the status of their fleets anytime, anywhere. By using GPRS, fleet managers can get a full map view and track their vehicles on their handsets. Functionality such as zooming and requesting the latest position are all built in."
 

OUTSOURCING THE skills - Bureau services are a viable alternative to in-house fleet management.

Deriving maximum benefit
There are transport operations out there that are using FM systems to their full potential, like Vector Logistics. In the October 2005 edition of FleetWatch, Max Braun reported how efficiencies at the 3rd party distribution company were being streamlined and optimised through the integration of logistics, FM/tracking and ERP systems. The article highlighted the benefits of using data generated from the vehicle in an 'holistic' or company-wide way, to provide real business intelligence that delivers competitive advantages, cost savings and customer benefits.

Vector has, through effective systems integration and utilisation, managed to reduce its vehicle numbers by 22%, thereby reducing total kilometres and running costs, a 60% reduction in returns (perishable goods) and the ability to send detailed delivery reports to clients and partners within 24-hours. 

Braun also found that the success of any IT system/s depends on the capabilities of the people operating them and the overall company attitude towards technology as a business tool. As Vector's project manager, William Seers says: "The system relies on high-calibre competent people to nail down the rules and drive it effectively. However, the Return-On-Investment benefits are huge."
 

CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES allow for greater access to vehicle data and integration with other management systems.

Here-in lies the rub
FM bureau services for transport operations are becoming increasingly popular. This is because, in most cases, the competencies to really 'drive' the systems reside not in the transport office but with the supplier. It has been estimated that most in-house fleet managers only use 40% of the FM system's capability and invariably do so 'reactively' rather than proactively. This is no surprise. Learning the full functionality of a system takes time, a scarce resource in the transport business.

Suppliers like CI Omnibridge have consultants who manage the fleet information/management needs of transporters, ascertaining on a monthly basis what areas need to be addressed, setting up the system to address these needs, thereby systematically solving any efficiency/cost problems. Ken Bailey is the sales manager for Compass, the KZN distributor of CI Omnibridge. "The value that can be derived from our systems go beyond the productivity and cost of the truck. Best practice procedures can be employed to make people work more effectively, not just drivers but workshop personnel and other people directly involved in the productivity of the vehicle."

In short, suppliers of FM systems should either be offering a bureau service or providing a skilled transport consultant to operate the system onsite. FleetWatch editor Patrick O'Leary has been punting the idea of a FM systems personnel agency for years.

"Get young people skilled in IT and transport management to be temporarily employed by the transporter to run these systems as they should be and I'll bet they'll be hired permanently after six months. This will allow the traditional transport personnel to get on with what they've always done - keeping those wheels rolling," he says. "There is also a great opportunity for the disabled to be employed in this field." Hear hear!