News

SupaTrak helps Rick White keep its fleet in focus
July 2007

SupaTrak, the vehicle tracking system developed by CMS Global Technologies of Swindon, is increasingly proving the perfect solution for a whole range of companies wishing to monitor and manage their mobile assets more efficiently.   Rick White Transport, the Pershore (Gloucester) haulage, storage and distribution company recently fitted all its trucks with SupaTrak and has been delighted with the increased visibility and control over vehicle movements that has followed.

Rick White spokesman Tom Stracey says the company had been looking for ways to increase flexibility and believed a tracking system could improve its response to changing situations on the road, as well as boost fuel efficiency with more effective routing. And it had some very individual ideas about how this would be best achieved.  He invited tenders from 20 vehicle tracking firms and after comparing service levels, price and future-proofing ability selected the SupaTrak system, but with a twist.

Tom wanted a system that enabled his team to see all the vehicles all the time, and in real time on permanent display in the traffic office. In addition, the system had to show the status of each vehicle – its direction, speed, whether it was stopped and for how long – and he wanted it colour-coded so operators could see the situation at a glance and immediately be able to find out what was happening and why. Now Rick White’s traffic office looks more like Air Traffic Control than transport operator. Five large LCD screens display different maps of the UK and each vehicle is assigned a unique identity code. The colours change according to status, such that anyone glancing at the screen seeing a blue or red icon knows to find out more: blue means the vehicle has been stopped for more than 30 minutes and red that the vehicle is stopped with its engine running.

“The new system is working well and saving a great deal of time,” says Tom. “We can see where the vehicles are and what they are doing, and can quickly contact drivers if they are not doing what they are supposed to and find out why.   “SupaTrak also helps us to quickly answer customer questions about the progress of a load and is proving invaluable when it comes to schedule planning and diverting vehicles to pick up goods. It has already enabled us to work smarter and has a great deal of untapped potential that we have yet to explore, so I am expecting even better things in the future.

“I’m sure we are saving money as a result, but to be honest the system is so cost effective to run it only had to reduce our costs by one third of one percent to earn its living and it has certainly exceeded that by far,” he adds.   As well as the basic user-friendly service, which delivers vehicle location updates every 60 seconds, SupaTrak offers many other commercial benefits beyond simple tracking.

It includes a comprehensive reporting function that includes start/stop and historic ‘snail trail’ options, so users can always check where their vehicles have been, when and at what speed, which is proving very helpful in case of disputes or to aid administration.

And it comes with a range of extras to improve vehicle visibility and control, such as full European mapping, 30-second update options, satellite navigation, telemetry recorders and the ability to link the system to a company’s existing collection devices and back office systems.

But most important for many users is the fact that it’s simple to use and it works.