Gebr. Geelhoed focuses on quality, both in front and behind the scenes
With twenty of its own cars and fifteen regular charters, Gebroeders Geelhoed transports chemicals and gases throughout all of Europe. From their very first truck, this fast-growing company chose to use the CarCube as its on-board computer. Together with Trimble's solutions for wage and expense calculation, driving and rest time management and driving style analysis, this transport company from Middelharnis is able to deliver quality in all areas. Director Joop Geelhoed: “Customers appreciate that. That gives us a high goodwill factor.”
The shiny blue trucks from Gebroeders Geelhoed attract plenty of attention on the road. They are well equipped and are maintained to perfection.
Before we invest in a new truck, we sit down with the driver. He can indicate which truck he wants and what features it needs to have. This helps to motivate drivers. That is why we have no turnover and a waiting list of drivers who would like to drive for us. And well-motivated drivers perform better”, says Joop Geelhoed, who manages the company together with his sons Lars and Niels.
Paying attention to the driver and their truck has everything to do with focusing on quality. This is essential when transporting chemicals and gases.
“Focusing on quality means good trucks, good drivers and good systems behind the scenes. Customers notice this and appreciate it. This gives us a high goodwill factor”, Geelhoed explains.
Neatly concealed
The first truck that Gebroeders Geelhoed started with in 2013 was immediately equipped with a CarCube.
“I already had experience with this on-board computer. At a previous employer, Trimble came out on top after a selection process with two other on-board computer suppliers. This has everything to do with the quality of the software behind the CarCube”, Geelhoed explains.
Focusing on the truck also played a role in the decision to choose Trimble.
“The other on-board computers we looked at were large, bulky devices. However, the CarCube had a nice screen that we could easily incorporate into the dashboard. We like our cars to look neat on the inside too. That means no visible cables and no devices on top of the dashboard.”
Close monitoring
The focus on quality has paid off. The goal was to add two trucks every year, but seven years after its foundation, the fleet already has twenty vehicles. They all have a CarCube on board.
“We also have approximately fifteen regular charters, which are all provided with the FleetXPS App to monitor their trips. Every day we drive more than thirty cars through all of Europe and all the way to Greece. Thanks to the CarCube, we can monitor our own cars closely. If there is a problem, we can see it immediately. Not just when the customer calls to ask where the car is.”
The on-board computer is integrated with the Easytrip transport management system. However, Gebroeders Geelhoed deliberately does not use the option of transferring tasks directly from this system to the on-board computer.
“It often happens that a task is adjusted during the trip. Then the planner has to remove the task from the on-board computer to put in the adjusted task. For us, it is more convenient to send the driver a message.”
Simple question path
Thanks to the CarCube, the use of pen and paper in the cabin is kept to a minimum. Every trip is completed by using the tailor-made question path, which has been kept as simple as possible for the driver's convenience. Consignment notes are digitised immediately in the cabin with the connected document scanner and forwarded to the office in Middelharnis, so that customers can be informed immediately and invoiced quickly.
For wage and expense calculation, Gebroeders Geelhoed uses FleetHours.
“We can flawlessly extract what we have to pay our drivers at the end of the month from the system, without having to manually enter in all the hours. And if a driver has been driving until three minutes before six, he will be paid until three minutes before six. There are no more gray areas. How easy do you want it to be?”
External driving style coach
For the past two years we have also been using Tachotime Manager, Trimble's solution for driving and rest time management. Both the mass memory of all tachographs and the driver cards are downloaded remotely. For the mass memory this happens automatically, for the driver cards after a manual action in Tachotime Manager.
“The reason is simple: we make it mandatory for our drivers to always remove their card from the tachograph at night. That way automatic downloads are not an option.”
For driving style analysis and coaching, Gebroeders Geelhoed has hired Nextdriver's services, which uses the data from Trimble's Performance Portal.
“Drivers are more likely to accept something from an external coach than from us”, Geelhoed laughs. "And it works. The first trial run with Nextdriver immediately resulted in 3 percent fuel savings. Drivers have actually started working on their driving behaviour and want to finish at the top every month.”
Short lines
The collaboration with Trimble is going well, Geelhoed emphasizes. Our contacts at Trimble have years of experience and are always available.
“Even when we have a question in the evening, we get a response back quickly. The lines are short.”
About Gebroeders Geelhoed
Gebroeders Geelhoed BV was founded in March 2013 by Lars and Niels Geelhoed and father Joop. Joop takes care of the fleet and all accessories. Niels takes care of the daily planning for all the cars that drive for them. Lars is the commercial man at the company. Their activities mainly consist of transporting all kinds of chemicals and gases. The company meets all requirements to be allowed to transport ADR products. For more information: www.geelhoedtransport.nl.
