“Because we can see where our vehicles and crews are at any time of the day, we’ve saved money for our business and clients.”
Benefits of Navman Wireless
- Equipment security
- Greater efficiency
- Savings from fuel and wage costs
Powerhouse Civil Ltd is a civil contracting company with 10 trucks including tip trucks, crew wagons, diggers, a saw cutting machine and more. Shannon Philcox, Manager, has been in the construction industry for almost 20 years and established Powerhouse Civil to give customers the resources of a bigger company with the personal touch of a small business.
Powerhouse Civil has been in business since 2005 and has had Navman Wireless tracking, messaging and navigation installed in its vehicles for almost all of that time. Mr Philcox and company director, Nicky Lindique, chose the Navman Wireless system as it is more user-friendly than others.
Equipment Security
They initially looked at GPS tracking because they leave vehicles on-site and wanted to ensure they’re safe. “When you’re investing your own money in this kind of machinery, you want to know where it is at all times. GPS limits risk and increases the chance of equipment being found if it is stolen,” explains Mr Philcox.
Greater Efficiency
Mr Philcox uses the OnlineAVL 2 application via his PC to see his trucks throughout the city at all times. He says, “We can easily view our trucks, track travel and idle time, and monitor fuel consumption.” The Geofence and Customer Site features make tracking incredibly simple and help with invoicing. Ms Lindique says, “We set up Customer Sites for the sites we visit often and include this information on invoices so our customers know how many times we’ve been to a specific tip or quarry in a day. Billing discrepancies have been practically eliminated too.”
Additionally, Geofences and Customer Sites enable Powerhouse Civil to make more accurate off-road kilometre claims to LTNZ. They’ve also created Geofences around specific areas so if any truck goes outside these areas on the weekend, they receive a text message on their mobile phone to alert them.
Savings From Fuel and Wage Costs
Mr Philcox says, “Our crew wagons, which carry diesel tanks, have a ConEx device connected so we know when and where the tank is pumping. This visibility of fuel usage is great for our costings and budgets and we can use this information when pricing work.”
The system has also made truck drivers and crews more aware of their actions. “Because we can report on idling time, the guys now pay more attention and turn the trucks off if they’re not using them, saving us money on fuel and maintenance costs,” states Mr Philcox. Overall, the accuracy that Navman Wireless offers has given Powerhouse Civil peace of mind. For example, with wages they use the reports as electronic timesheets to see when the crew start and finish their day so they can pay all their staff fairly.
Easy to Install and Use
To fit Navman Wireless devices in each of Powerhouse Civil’s trucks, they simply pulled all the trucks into their yard and installed the devices over one weekend. Mr Philcox says, “Installation was easy and the training and support we received has been very good. We instantly understood how to use the OnlineAVL 2 system.” He concludes, “From tracking, reporting, managing and invoicing, Navman Wireless is part of how we do business every day.”
