Tradehire
No more 'Where's Wally?' for scaffolding specialists
At-A-Glance
- Complete visibility of the fleet’s whereabouts
- Fully automated Road User Charges
- Enthusiastic and supportive guidance from Teletrac Navman
Keeping track of a busy fleet
Tradehire is a family-run business whose busy crew work across greater Auckland installing roof edge protection and scaffolding solutions. The company was looking for a technology that provides up-to-the-minute visibility into its fleet to support its prompt, efficient and reliable service. Tradehire also wanted to streamline manual processes, such as the administration burden of purchasing Road User Charges (RUC) licences - and the cost of the occasional fine when a licence ran out.
“They [Teletrac Navman team] are enthusiastic, very willing to assist and simply made the whole process easy.” - back-office team member Cynthia Robinson
Providing location and automation
In 2019, Tradehire installed Teletrac Navman’s GPS-enabled fleet management solution alongside the electronic RUC system, into its six light trucks that primarily transport scaffolding equipment to and from sites. When working out timings for deliveries and pick-ups, or assigning drivers to support nearby crews, the back office can quickly check the whereabouts and distance to sites of each vehicle on their mobile phones or computers.
The solution gives Tradehire assurance and insight into speeding and driver behaviour to ensure that the business is meeting its health and safety requirements. Using Teletrac Navman’s electronic RUC solution, Tradehire has automated its RUC licence purchasing and display. Tradehire has also set up automatic alerts for vehicle use after hours, to improve their vehicle security.
Tradehire’s back-office team member Cynthia Robinson said the local Teletrac Navman team are great to work with. “They [Teletrac Navman team] are enthusiastic, very willing to assist and simply made the whole process easy.” She has learnt quickly how to navigate through the solution to find her favourite reports and is improving at using the system each time she uses it.
When the business needed to replace an old truck, the Teletrac Navman team made sure the process ran smoothly, simply re-installing the GPS-enabled hardware into the new truck.
“If there’s a big job and the onsite crew need extra help, I can see where all staff and vehicles are located and assign those nearest to the job site to go and lend a hand.” - Operations Manager, Rod McLean.
A more responsive and efficient operation
For Tradehire’s operations team, complete visibility into their fleet’s whereabouts has been a very valuable outcome. It allows them to quickly and accurately co-ordinate their teams and equipment deliveries, and be responsive to challenges faced at larger job sites.
“I love that I can pull out my phone and see exactly where the trucks are,” says Operations Manager, Rod McLean. “I can see if they’re enroute and how far away they are from site. If there’s a big job and the onsite crew need extra help, I can see where all staff and vehicles are located and assign those nearest to the job site to go and lend a hand.”
Knowing the location of their whole fleet gives Tradehire’s operations team information that helps when discussing speeds and on-road behaviour with drivers, as well as providing peace of mind in knowing how and when their fleet is operated.
The team can very easily check the history of vehicles and their movements. “If there’s a speeding ticket we can check the system to see who was driving the vehicle, and see if there was any reason, such as one time when a street’s speeding limit was lowered,” says Cynthia.
The Teletrac Navman team even helped set up a text alert for security. If a vehicle is moved between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am, Rod will get an alert on his phone so he can react quickly to quash theft, prevent unauthorised use, and even relocate stolen vehicles.
The electronic RUC system has saved the Tradehire team from a lot of administration and even a few fines. The system is set up to automatically renew the RUC licences, which is great for both the drivers and the back office who have plenty of other tasks to focus on each day. At first the electronic RUC system was set to renew licences every 1000 kms, but they’ve since reconfigured it to purchase licences every 5000 kms - which better suits the fleet. For peace of mind that the licence is up-to-date, drivers can check the digital licence display, which incorporates the electronic distance recorder – meaning no more hubometers.
The Teletrac Navman solution is a valuable addition to Tradehire’s operations team, giving them better visibility of fleet operations, reducing administration and giving safety and security assurance.
“I love that I can pull out my phone and see exactly where the trucks are. I can see if they’re enroute and how far away they are from site.” - Operations Manager, Rod McLean.
About Tradehire
Tradehire is a family-run business which specialises in roof edge protection and scaffolding solutions for the Auckland region. It offers commercial and residential scaffolding, including for remote sites, narrow and widespan sites, and fragile sites. Tradehire prides themselves on a prompt, efficient and reliable service for tradesmen and homeowners. Its experienced staff use top quality equipment to ensure that WorkSafe requirements are met on each and every job.