Earlier this month we caught up with VES Transport who are a longstanding customer of Fuelwise, utilising both fuel cards and telematics. The company provides groupage services throughout the UK and Ireland, operating from their base in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland.
VES Transport use the Kinesis system which provides them with powerful insight and data into a range of fleet metrics from driver behaviour to vehicle performance.
The installation of Telematics was necessitated as the company believed that they could reduce their fuel spend by better optimising their routes.
“I felt drivers were using more diesel during their runs than what was required. With the Trip History we could see the route drivers were taking and then plan routes that were more economical.”
The company explained how they could monitor this using the Live Map. “With the Live Map you can view a drivers location at any time.” This feature has been extremely beneficial for VES Transport as they can then assign drivers to other jobs in their area. “With this I was able to increase our workload as I know where my vehicles are and can then assign them to other jobs.
The introduction of Telematics has not only helped reduce costs for VES Transport, but also enable them to take on more work. As is the case for many companies, reducing admin is important so that staff can focus on other areas of the business. VES Transport explained that “As a business we are keen to keep admin reduced as much as possible and with everything on my phone/tablet at any time, drivers time sheets, MPG, my entire Fuelwise Account all on the one platform. We don’t have to be chasing our drivers for documents, everything is done for us.”
Telematics is managed through the same system as Fuel Cards and Daily Vehicle Checks. This means that their complete fleet management requirements are all in the one system. They can easily access whatever they need at the touch of a button and don’t need to be switching between different systems.
Often drivers are sceptical regarding Telematics but VES Transport took the time to educate their drivers about the benefits not only to the company, but also the drivers. “We advised the drivers that the system will help them to complete their runs quicker and once they heard this they quickly came on board with the idea”. And it’s not only their drivers that were impressed when the devices were installed. “They have helped improve our customer service as the companies we work with can see runs are completed on time. Our insurance provider were impressed we wanted to increase the security of our vehicles and this led to a reduction in our premiums.”
When asked what plans they have in place to use the solution in the future VES Transport added, “We’ve been so impressed with the system we have ordered an additional five units to complete our fleet”.
You can find out more about our range of Telematics solutions by scheduling your free 30 minute demo.
Dominic Dysart
Dominic has been covering the fuel and fleet management industry for over six years, writing about topics such as Fuel Cards, Telematics and Vehicle Cameras.
