“Claiming road user charges is now a breeze. What used to take a full day now takes an hour and we’ve increased our claim amount by 5%.”
Benefits of Navman Wireless
- More accurate and faster calculations of road user charges
- Greater visibility of trucks resulting in better customer service
- Improved driver behaviour
Mangonui Haulage tracks 40 logging and livestock trucks working from Spirits Bay to South Waikato. Transport Manager, Darren Brott, was instantly sold on the idea that he’d be able to see where his trucks were at all times, and realised straightaway that the money he’d save due to improved scheduling, less truck downtime and less idling would more than pay for the system.
Darren installed Navman Wireless in Mangonui Haulage’s first truck in 2005, liked what he saw and has been adding it to all logging and livestock trucks ever since.
More Accurate and Faster Calculations of Road User Charges
In the past, claim calculation was a completely manual task - Darren would rely on drivers to account for their off road kilometres and he’d have to collate all the details and submit the claim. He’d even go to the skid sites and farms himself to check lead distances.
“All our off road k’s were difficult to prove. I even had to take the LTNZ rep with me to show her that 45% - 55% of our travel could be off road. And sometimes drivers would forget to chart all their mileage. When it’s 75 k’s to a skid site, those unclaimed k’s add up,” states Darren.
With Navman Wireless’ Off-Road Tracker, everything’s changed. What took Darren one full day a month now takes one hour because the system calculates and totals the off road distance for every truck and then presents it in an easy to read report. Darren says, “I was blown away by the amount of kilometres we weren’t claiming. In some instances we only claimed for 10% of the actual mileage.
Navman Wireless has enabled us to increase our claim by 5% and with the distances we travel, that equates to a lot of money.”
Greater Visibility of Trucks Resulting in Better Customer Service
Mangonui Haulage uses a central dispatcher who keeps an eye on the OnlineAVL 2 all day so he can radio jobs to the nearest truck and keep an eye out for any delays.
Darren also uses the OnlineAVL 2 to monitor standing times. “If I see our trucks are waiting or there are going to be hold ups, we’ll move jobs around to ensure things keep moving,” he says.
Mangonui Haulage’s Livestock Manager, Sean Sparksman, dispatches their livestock jobs. In animal transport, timing is critical - one hold up can disrupt the schedule for the whole day. With Navman Wireless, the Livestock Manager can be proactive and call a farmer if he sees that a truck won’t get to a farm at the scheduled time. Alternatively, if a farmer calls in, Sean can tell him that the truck is coming up the drive or is an hour away. Farmers really like this level of accuracy and service as it lets them get on with their day’s work.
Improved Driver Behaviour
Mangonui Haulage drivers have definitely changed some behaviour as a result of Navman Wireless. Darren explains, “Their actions weren’t bad before but with Navman Wireless, people have realised what they were inadvertently doing. For instance, one driver used to idle his truck for 45 minutes in the morning and that chews through fuel. He had no idea it was on for so long. Now he only idles for 5 minutes.”
“At our monthly meetings I put the speed reports in front of the guys. In the beginning they were often surprised at the speeds they reached. Today they take a lot more notice,” says Darren.
Darren concludes, “It’s all so simple with Navman Wireless. I’m not the most computer literate person but the interface is so concise - it’s easy to make business decisions quickly and effectively.”
