“Freight Lines has a high level of trust in Navman Wireless’ OnlineAVL 2 solution. The visibility is exactly what we need to make strategic, informed business decisions.”
Benefits of Navman Wireless
- Increased efficiency across the board
- Accurate, auditable RUC claims
- A strategic view of the entire business
Freight Lines Ltd is one of New Zealand’s leading linehaul, bulk and general freight companies. They have seven strategically located depots across the country that control a fleet of 200 vehicles.
The philosophy of the company has always been to provide a customer-oriented, cost-effective service. Therefore, when they conducted a technology upgrade four years ago, they brought Navman Wireless on board in order to better monitor and measure vehicles and performance. After an extensive trial period of AVL (automatic vehicle location) solutions, Freight Lines selected Navman Wireless as a complementary technology to their systems upgrade.
Today Navman Wireless Tracking is installed in various vehicles across Freight Lines’ bulk transport, freight transport and metro divisions. Pete Barker, Freight Lines’ Managing Director, says, “Now we’ve got the visibility, we dispatch jobs more efficiently, accurately claim road user charges and provide better customer service.”
Increased Efficiency Across the Board
Approximately 15 members of the Freight Lines team use the OnlineAVL 2 to monitor trucks and run reports. Mr Barker states, “Because we know exactly where a truck is at all times, we can better schedule jobs. As a result, we’ve seen lower costs and better utilisation of our fleet.”
Accurate, Auditable RUC Claims
Navman Wireless has also enabled Freight Lines to claim back road user charges from LTNZ. “Before Navman Wireless, we didn’t claim road user charges because the manual process was too time-consuming,” says Mr Barker.
Freight Lines became the testing customer for Off-Road Tracker, Navman Wireless’ browser-based tool that lets you see exactly when a vehicle leaves and returns to public roads. Mr Barker states, “Navman Wireless has helped us improve and streamline the entire RUC process. Now we have one dedicated team member who manages LTNZ rebates. Cherie Holland, Purchasing Manager, is passionate about saving money for Freight Lines. She can purchase licences more accurately because we know how far our trucks travel. She can also organise all claims by running Off-Road Tracker reports and submitting them to LTNZ.”
Freight Lines is looking forward to the ongoing financial benefit they’ll receive by having Off-Road Tracker installed and claiming RUC rebates. “We anticipate that we will save around 3% in claiming road user charges,” says Mr Barker.
A Strategic View of the Entire Business
“Off-Road Tracker and the entire Navman Wireless solution have enabled us to look at our business much more strategically,” says Mr Barker.
Driver behaviour has improved as drivers understand the benefits of being visible. Billing has become more accurate. Claiming back road user charges is no longer a difficult task. Customer relationships are even stronger.
Mr Barker concludes, “Navman Wireless has provided us with the tools to back up our business decisions and gut feel. This confidence leads to new thinking which keeps Freight Lines in its leadership position.”
