An English borough council was looking for a system to measure the efficiency of its waste collection vehicles for both Domestic and Trade Waste.
By installing a fleet management solution to their vehicles they were able to establish exactly where time was being lost during the work day. Fleet management reports and screen snapshots of vehicle trips revealed that the vehicles were frequently caught in slow moving traffic in the town center. Also, time was being lost by the waste collection crew taking extended breaks when back at the depot.
Reports also revealed that time was being lost during the collection of trade waste when customers either did not put the waste in the correct place or when they expected the collection crew to wait for the waste to be brought out. Offending customers were contacted and informed of the correct waste collection procedure.
Fuel efficiency was also being monitored and it was found that in some routes the vehicles would travel up and down the same road several times a day. Re-routing the vehicles on more efficient routes has resulted in a significant saving in fuel.
Another benefit of the fleet management solution has been the reduction in insurance claims against the council for damage to parked vehicles. Often, members of the public would contact the council claiming that their vehicles had been damage by a waste collection vehicle. Now that the council is able to track collection vehicle locations and are able to prove if one of their vehicles was at the given location at the specified time.
Lastly, the council is now investigating the possibility of charging trade customers by the weight of waste that they produce. This can easily be achieved by installing RF ID Tags on the bins that can then be read by equipment on the vehicle. As the bins are being emptied they can be weighed by the vehicle and the information can be sent via the fleet management system and an invoice can be generated.
A contract maintenance company required a solution to prove that they were providing the appropriate services to their customer in a timely manner. The company is responsible for gritting and salting roads and also for snow clearance. The company had to be able to provide data to its customers that showed they responded to the initial call for service within the contracted time. The company also needed to show that workers followed the correct route and spread grit and salt at the correct rate according to road conditions. To accomplish this, the vehicles were fitted with a mobile resource management solution that uses GPS technology to track the route followed. The system also has a number of inputs and outputs that can be used for monitoring and control of external devices in the vehicle. Using these inputs and outputs, the company was able to measure the road surface temperature and the flow of grit and salt to the spreader. During snow clearance they can now measure the height at which the snow plough is set and monitor the speed at which the vehicle is traveling to ensure correct surface treatment.
Another benefit to the company is satellite navigation, which has been useful to contract drivers who may not be familiar with the routes and hazards, such as width restrictions and speed-calming measures.
The maintenance company is able to supply reports to the customer which shows that they treated the highways in a timely fashion and at the correct temperature and amount of grit and salt. Overall, this provided a more efficient service, allowing the roads to only be treated when required and enabling the maintenance company to respond faster to changes in weather conditions.
A contract weed spraying company installed a mobile resource management system to allow to better prove it was fulfilling its contractual agreements with customers. Previously the drivers were following a paper map and coloring the route as they went to show the areas that they had treated. This system was open to human error and generated a number of queries from the customer.
The installed system shows the route that was followed by each vehicle and clearly shows the areas that have been treated. The weed spraying contractor was able to provide reports to the customer on a daily basis, showing which areas had been treated and when they were completed. This information can also be provided on a map if needed.
The weed spraying contractors are now looking at installing navigation on the vehicles since it has been found that many of the routes being taken are not the most efficient. Another solution that is being considered is the monitoring of the amount of chemical being used for weed treatment as different species of weed require specific amounts of chemical.
Have a question? Visit our support section.
Search garmin.com