With depots in Palmerston North, Wellington, Whangarei and Hastings, and its Support Centre in Auckland, Foodstuffs North Island needed better visibility of its fleet for DIFOT purposes. It also wanted to enhance health and safety compliance, and recognise and reward good driving.
The company relied mainly on paper-based systems for reporting. Generating cost per kilometre estimates entailed searching multiple systems and guesswork around fuel and maintenance. Claiming for offroad travel was a time-consuming process that meant the company was not claiming refunds it was entitled to. It also needed to replace paper-based service scheduling and improve communication between the workshop and its fleet.
The company had problems with failing mechanical hubodometers in its older vehicles, particularly trailers.
“I’ve gone through five or six mechanicals in the last couple of weeks,” says Blair Inglis, Foodstuffs North Island’s Compliance/Fleet/OH&S Manager. “It can happen in the middle of the night and you have to replace it straight away.”
Foodstuffs NI installed the EROAD system in 61 trucks and trailers, replacing mechanical hubodometers in its older vehicles, and began using EROAD’s Service module to schedule services, WOFs and COFs.
Blair Inglis now manages servicing from his desk in Auckland, working with a service agent in Palmerston North, where 80% of its fleet is based.
To support health and safety compliance, and provide better visibility of its fleet Foodstuffs NI uses retrospective activity reports and Leaderboard. Blair receives daily Leaderboard reports providing insights into over speed and idling events, which the company plans to use as the basis of its Driver of the Year Awards.
“The Service module has allowed me to build cases for replacement because it’s all there at the touch of a button.”
Blair Inglis
Compliance/Fleet/OH&S Manager, Foodstuffs North Island
Using EROAD’s Service module Foodstuff NI’s servicing is now completed on time and compliant.
“The service agent works out what is coming up and goes direct to the branch, which frees up my time,” Blair Inglis says.
It has also freed up three full-time staff who were doing this work manually.
The EROAD system is now providing useful statistics on servicing, which is increasing business efficiency. “The Service module has allowed me to build cases for replacement because it’s all there at the touch of a button. Every invoice is stored in there, so I know exactly what we’re spending on each vehicle, and what we shouldn’t be spending on each vehicle as they get older,” Blair says. The company also now has easy access to accurate cost per kilometre calculations.
Through being able to monitor idling using EROAD Idle reports, Foodstuffs has been able to make fuel savings of 4% over less than four months. It is also making savings on RUC costs, claiming back 2%, partly due to the fact that it is now able to claim offroad refunds on trailers.
The company’s health and safety focus has been strengthened through using Leaderboard and retrospective activity reporting; which are sometimes used to refute claims its trucks are speeding.
“If we get complaints from members of the public who think we’re speeding we can verify we’re within the speed limit,” Blair says.
The improved visibility the company was looking for in installing the EROAD system has made a significant difference to the despatch team.
“It obviously makes their lives easier,” Blair says. “And for us, it means being able to monitor how it’s done, and find a smarter, better way of doing it.”
