B & J Commercial Services, based at Rugeley Staffs, provides road haulage, freight forwarding, 24-hour breakdown assistance and vehicle/trailer hire.
Palletways UK, The Cannon Group, Wincanton Logistics and HM Prison Service are among the company’s main customers. Managing director Bill Hope reckons investment in internet-based GPRS vehicle tracking technology has brought a raft of business benefits including increased fleet efficiency, enhanced customer service and improved vehicle security.
“Fifteen months ago we were working with a rudimentary phone tracking system,” he says. “But it was slow to update and not very accurate. I also wanted to resolve some issues over timesheet accuracy, so in response to a call from Quartix, we trialled a single tracking device for four weeks. This proved so successful that we ordered another five units immediately – quickly rising to 37 within a few months.”
“The Quartix web page is constantly up on the PCs in the transport department so that we can see at a glance the vehicles’ real-time locations. The system is really straightforward to use and allows us to keep our vehicles moving. We can make a considered decision as to whether any particular load will work – based on where the driver is and when he will be available. Essentially, the system gives us far more control; helping us to squeeze jobs in and make decisions very quickly.”
Hope is also arranging for one of B&J’s closest customers to have parallel access to the system, to enable monitoring of the real-time locations of 27 tracked, double-decked trailers.
