The 75-year-old Van Wieren Special has been using ICS on-board computers since 1991, acquired by Punch Telematix, which is now part of Trimble. That is one of the reasons why the experts in exceptional and special transport have succeeded in simplifying and speeding up their administrative processes. They can also monitor the drivers' performance more closely. Operational director Harm van Wieren: "We can now invoice much earlier."
Together with his brother Maarten, Harm van Wieren has focused on special and exceptional transport. Van Wieren Special has a fleet of 36 vehicles, 6 of which are stationed in Germany.
“We have grown into a big company by transporting construction equipment. Delivering a large excavator to end customers is always a like a little party,” says Operational Director Harm van Wieren. “But we do more than just construction equipment. With our flatbed trailers and crane trucks, we transport everything with a weight between 0 to 100 tons. We map out the route, apply for the permit and guide the transport from start to finish.”
Scanning CMRs
For as long as Harm can remember, Van Wieren Special has relied on the CarCube, Trimble's on-board computer. This year they have renewed their contract again.
“The link to our transport management system, Accountview TransportMaster, works great. The question path is clear, so that every driver can enter any necessary data about their trip step-by-step and without any problems. If we do happen to have a problem, Trimble immediately addresses it. In short: there was no reason whatsoever not to extend the contract ”, laughs Harm van Wieren.
An important step forward was connecting the CarCube to a document scanner in the truck cabin last year. Immediately after a shipment has been delivered, the consignment note is scanned, digitised and forwarded to the office in Emmeloord via the on-board computer.
“We started off with a black and white scanner, but are now moving to a full-color scanner for even better quality. By scanning them, we now have much faster access to the CMRs, including those from Germany. We add this to the file in the TMS, and we can invoice immediately.”
Rewarding correctly
The planners can transfer the transport orders from the TMS directly to the on-board computer of the designated driver. They have all the necessary information at hand, including the loading and unloading address. As soon as the transport order has been completed, we receive the feedback, including the scanned CMR.
“The driver can also use the navigation feature for traffic congestion, except for exceptional transport. In that case we have to follow the route for which we have received the permit of course.”
Van Wieren Special also uses FleetHours for wage and expense calculation. By integrating CarCube with FleetHours, Van Wieren can guarantee that all drivers are paid correctly. We don't need to check the time sheets manually for this.
“Our drivers work hard. They deserve to be properly rewarded for that. Thanks to FleetHours there is no longer any discussion about this.”
Monitoring performance
Van Wieren is especially pleased with the options Trimble offers to monitor driver performance. He credits Tachotime Manager for compliance with driving and rest time legislation and Performance Portal for driving behaviour and fuel consumption.
“Driving and rest times are checked quite frequently, not only in the Netherlands, but also in other countries. The fines are getting higher and higher. Tachotime Manager shows exactly when they have made a mistake. That helps to avoid fines.”
How much fuel the company has saved by using the Performance Portal, Van Wieren does not dare to say.
“It is difficult to compare trips. It makes quite a difference whether you transport a load of 10 ton or 80 ton and whether you are allowed to drive on the freeway with it or if you have to take back roads. But we do coach drivers on their driving behaviour. How fast do they accelerate or slow down? How often do they idle their truck? Every quarter, the drivers receive a printout with their performance, which we then discuss with them.”
Digital signature
In the future, Van Wieren Special hopes to take further steps in the direction of digitisation. Van Wieren mentions the consignment note as an example.
“The transport sector is a fairly conservative sector. It is actually too crazy for words that in this day and age we still need a piece of paper signed by the recipient to be able to invoice. It would be nice if in the future we could take the step towards a digital signature."
More about Van Wieren Special
In 1945, just after the war, Jan and Lukas van Wieren decided to be one of the first people in the Noordoostpolder to set up their own transport company. Three quarters of a century later, their life's work still shines brightly, the last 10 years under the leadership of Managing Director Richard de Graaf. Van Wieren Special focuses on special and exceptional transport and therefore has an extensive fleet of flatbed trailers and crane trucks. In Emmeloord, the company has its own storage and transhipment capacity, garage and washing area and they also have a branch in Germany (Konz). Besides special transport, the company also offers a multitude of extra and additional services, including project forwarding and construction and dismantling of cranes. For more information, visit www.vanwieren.nl.
