Synergy Courier Services Ltd: Managing downtime

The challenge: managing downtime

Synergy Courier Services Ltd is a successful delivery company based in South London. As the business continues to grow and thrive, one of its key business objectives, as with many courier companies, is maintaining general control of its fleet and minimising driver downtime. Thanks to Geotab, Synergy Courier Services Ltd can now dispatch its nearest driver to jobs and quickly, and easily confirm deliveries. It’s also able to better maintain its vehicles, with automatic engine fault reporting, fewer insurance claims and reduced idling and fuel costs.

‘Downtime’ is a word that no fleet manager wants to hear. When a vehicle isn’t running and a driver isn’t driving, the company can’t generate revenue.

Managing driver downtime was a major challenge for Nick Johnson, Fleet Manager at Synergy Courier Services Ltd. The courier, delivery, and logistics specialists have a fleet of over 100 vehicles for Johnson to manage, ranging from Light-Duty vans, to over-the-road Heavy-Duty trucks.

A particular problem for Johnson, was that he simply didn’t have any means of accurately monitoring all of his vehicles all the time. This often made verifying break times and productivity nigh on impossible. He also faced the issue of drivers not adjusting their hours to make up for this lost time and productivity.

The solution: From no visibility to full insights

In the end, the answer to Synergy Courier Services Ltd’s downtime challenge was simple: A telematics system offering the visibility that Johnson and other senior managers needed, that could clearly show if and when vehicles and drivers were working.

Synergy Courier Services Ltd wanted a telematics solution that excelled in terms of price and quality, and looked to their Authorized UK Reseller for Geotab with over 50 years of experience in fleet management for assistance. The Reseller provided Synergy Courier Services Ltd with Geotab’s technology and offered additional training and support services to improve their fleet’s performance.

Geotab's fleet management software and GPS vehicle tracking devices stood out in what matters most — quality. Geotab was also able to offer Synergy Courier Services Ltd multiple ways of enhancing and expanding its platform with integrated third-party Add-Ons via the Geotab Marketplace.

“Even though there were cheaper solutions out there, Geotab’s solution provided more value to the company and its profits,” Johnson explained. “It also has a great user-friendly interface, and easy-to-use software.”

Geotab — Top productivity features:

• Real-Time Location Tracking
• Detailed, Accurate Trip Recording
• Geofencing and Route Optimisation
• Dispatch Nearest Vehicle
• Collision Detection and Notifications
• Geotab Marketplace Solutions & SDK/APIs

With Geotab GO in place, Johnson can now see where all the fleet vehicles are, at any time.

“By tracking our vehicles, we have full visibility of the entire fleet and can easily dispatch the closest vehicle to a job,” he said. “We can also see whether a driver has or hasn’t been to a delivery address.”

The results: Managing downtime makes for productive uptime

Johnson admits that his drivers were skeptical at first about being monitored via telematics. But in the months since the Geotab GO devices were installed, things have changed.

“Now they’re happy to use the Geotab GO device,” he reported. “Because if they’re involved in a collision, they can prove their innocence with the collision reconstruction report provided by Geotab, which can help to show they did nothing wrong.”

Fewer 50/50 claims thanks to collision reconstruction

Geotab’s Collision Reconstruction Add-In, which documents speed, location, and point of impact in the event of a crash, Synergy Courier Services Ltd has seen a reduction in shared fault (50/50) insurance claims. This has helped to not only improve the company’s insurance claims history, but also helped to cut allegations of speeding and other driving violations.

Collision reconstruction add-in for MyGeotab

When a vehicle collision occurs, it’s crucial that fleet managers know what happened, and why.

Geotab’s Collision Reconstruction Add-In for MyGeotab is a fast, easy solution for viewing and analysing collision data collected from the Geotab GO tracking device. Collision details are collected together into one user-friendly document.

• Find the most recent collision for a specific vehicle or time period
• See collision locations on a map
• Automatic point of impact detection
• Get speed, RPM, and accelerometer data

Learn more at the Geotab Marketplace:
marketplace.geotab.com/solutions/collision-reconstruction

Saving on fuel and increasing efficiency

Synergy Courier Services Ltd has become a more efficient company since it began working with Geotab’s fleet management solution. The fleet is benefiting from improved maintenance and routing, which helps the company to save on its fuel costs.

When it comes to routing, the fleet manager can now see which driver is closest to a customer site, and dispatch that vehicle, saving fuel and time, while also improving productivity.

Fault reports help pinpoint maintenance priorities

Synergy Courier Services Ltd can now automatically identify vehicles in need of repair, thanks to the fault report data provided by MyGeotab.

The MyGeotab Engine Faults Summary Report helps fleet managers to prioritise repairs, by providing a quick view of the total number of faults triggered for each vehicle in the fleet. A second, more detailed report is also available, which offers a fault description, such as ‘General vehicle warning light,’ plus the date and time the fault was triggered, the source, controller, and diagnostic code.

“Our fleet is now better maintained, as we’re able to provide mechanics with a full fault report when the vehicle goes to be serviced or be repaired,” observed Johnson.

“In the original report, when we first started using Geotab, we had 20-plus vehicles on our faults list. Today, we only have six with a few minor faults.”

Anti-idling reporting cuts fuel use

Anti-idling reports have helped Synergy Courier Services Ltd to improve not only its fuel usage and uptime, but also its carbon footprint.

MyGeotab allows users to create rules or limits for specific driving activities such as idling, then monitor when, where, for how long, and how often drivers break those rules. Exception reporting is a powerful tool for making positive changes in fleet operations.

Further insight can be gained from the free custom reports available on the Geotab Marketplace: Last 3 Months, Idling Trends, and the Weekly Idle Cost Trend Report.

Unexpected benefits — Stolen vehicle recovery

Telematics solutions often deliver unexpected benefits that users hadn’t even considered, and this was certainly the case with Synergy Courier Services Ltd and Geotab GO.

Prior to using Geotab, Synergy Courier Services Ltd had three vehicles stolen in just a 24-month period. They were never recovered. Shortly after installing Geotab’s solution, two of the company’s vehicles were stolen. Both vehicles were recovered within half an hour, using the Geotab GO device. Ironically, several other devices installed on the vehicles were removed by the thieves, but the Geotab GO device went unnoticed.

“Using these tracking devices really helps, as the thieves still haven’t worked out where we’re putting them,” said Johnson.

Greater fleet insights delivers increased customer satisfaction

Above all, the most important benefit of the Geotab fleet management platform for Synergy Courier Services Ltd, is improved customer service.

“We can see where our vehicles are and instantly know where the driver is,” concluded Johnson. “We can give accurate arrival times to our customers, because we know where the vehicle is. Communication between Synergy and our customers has greatly improved, thanks to our ability to give them accurate time frames.”

Download case study

From the fleet manager

“Geotab has tightened up our fleet operations, allowing me to identify drivers who need to improve, and vehicles that need to be repaired.”

— Nick Johnson, Fleet Manager, Synergy Courier Services Ltd