Haulier John Hackling (Transport) has improved its compliance management and created administrative efficiencies from the introduction of Jaama’s multi award-winning Key2Vehicle Management software.
Headquartered in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, the near 50-year-old business, which combines flexible local haulage with cost-effective nationwide trunking, European distribution services and fully integrated transport logistics, previously relied on a complex spreadsheet system to manage vehicles, drivers and service, maintenance and repair work through its own workshops.
But Key2 has, according to transport manager Mark Salf, revolutionised the way John Hackling (Transport) manages its fleet of 55 heavy commercial vehicles comprising largely DAF and Volvo models and eight Ford Transit vans.
Furthermore, it has enabled the company to more easily keep an auditable record of drivers with regular validation of employees’ driving licences undertaken against Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency records and compliance with driver CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) requirements.
Haulier compliance with the demands of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency vehicle inspection regime is also business critical and therefore, said Mr Salf, introduction of Key2 made complete commercial sense.
He explained: “We are a growing business and as the fleet expanded we knew that we could no longer rely on spreadsheets to log details of the fleet and our drivers to meet all the compliance requirements demanded of hauliers today.”
Having investigated the potential of Key2, Mr Salf and colleagues visited an existing Jaama customer to see the system in real world operation.
Mr Salf said: “We could clearly see the potential of Key2 in managing our fleet and drivers and highlighting when vehicles require scheduled maintenance and inspections.
“The volume of paperwork has been reduced significantly; documents can be scanned in and retained on record within the system; and we receive instant alerts when vehicle and driver checks are required.
“From having an administratively cumbersome paper-based vehicle and driver management system, we are now using state-of-the-art technology to ensure maximum compliance, drive operating efficiencies and ensure our vehicles and drivers are on the road.”
The company uses a whole life cost regime to manage its fleet and Key2 enables the fleet to be managed by exception with ‘rogue’ vehicles highlighted as data from the workshops and the company’s fuel purchases are fed into the system.
John Hackling (Transport) has recently gained Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme bronze accreditation and Mr Salf said: “When the accreditation audit was undertaken, the inspector was extremely impressed with the fact that we had all documentation in one place. Key2 is an excellent tool.”
Jaama managing director Martin Evans said: “Through investment in fleet software an increasing number of businesses such as John Hackling (Transport) have recognised that they can drive efficiency improvements and ensure their processes are robust from an audit and compliance perspective. They also want to reduce the time spent on fleet administration.
“John Hackling (Transport) quickly identified that our Key2 technology was market-leading and we have worked in partnership to project manage its implementation and will continue to provide on-going support.”