24


THE IT SECTION


FULL SCREEN VIEW - by Marcia MacLeod


Telematics raises its game in Europe


Telematics providers are adding multilingual and multi-time zone capability to their in-cab communications systems to cater for the increasing number of international hauliers wanting real-time communication with their drivers.


“More and more international


In addition, the UK is seen as the leader in telematics, so a number of companies are


testing this


technology at their UK sites and then rolling it out across Europe. “The challenge for cross-


border haulage has always been language differences and the need for visibility at all points of


provision; GPS mapping to allow drivers to find collection and delivery points and depots to


locate drivers; vehicle


performance monitoring, so that hauliers know how many miles to the gallon any vehicle does, how many miles it has done


since the last service,


how often it breaks down and so on; and fleet management, which


records when vehicles need to be serviced or are due for their MOT. However, it is in-cab communication that has really changed the way in which hauliers operate, improving service


get to Calais.” However, a recent alliance with Kratzner Automation allows Isotrak to improve its mobile application for customers who do rely on hand-helds by using Kratzner’s mobile server. Isotrak’s system can also take feeds from competitors’ software to enable third party information -


from a sub-contractor, for


example - to be integrated into the customer’s database. So far, Isotrak is working with Microlise, 4Trans and Cybit, which recently bought Masternaut, a leading telematics company. Telematics usually integrate to back office transport


management systems (TMS).


Kewill’s new web-based tms includes a 4PL module which enables logistics providers to control all its sub-contracted services. Extra functions, such as cross-docking, have been included to support transit warehouses.


Fargo Systems has also launched a new version of its TMS, TOPS, for the distribution and general haulage sectors. The latest release offers the same management control of resource planning, invoicing and job allocation, but also includes a profit optimiser tool which assists in load planning and compares


ISSUE 4 2011


costs of own fleet deliveries with sub-contractor’s prices.


Strong competition in the TMS market has not deterred another new entrant seeking UK business. German company Active Logistics is selling its web-based TMS, Active Logneo, through Proximity Resourcing, based in Leeds and Nottingham. Active Logneo offers the standard load allocation,


vehicle control and


job costing functionality, but also tracks assets such as pallets and containers. Sub-contractors can be monitored by the software, which can be integrated into in-cab systems and hand-held scanners.


Vixsoft’s cunning plan


Small and medium-sized freight forwarders can now take advantage of the same IT support that their bigger rivals benefit from, thanks to two new packages from Vixsoft Systems.


Steve Collins, Fargo Systems


operators, like Norbert Dentressangle and Eddie Stobart, are wanting our system,” emphasises Greville Coe, sales and marketing director at Isotrak, “so we’ve added multi- languages and multi-time zones.


the load’s journey. The haulier’s overseas partner needs to know what’s coming, when and the estimated local time of arrival - in local language.” Telematics encompasses communication;


in-cab POD


levels because depots have greater visibility of their vehicles and their loads. POD systems, for example, allow hauliers to pre-empt any disputes by proving the goods were delivered. Most, though, shy away from the electronic signature beloved by couriers. “We find heavy hauliers prefer the more robust, easy- to-use


fixed in-cab hand-helds,” systems,


which have bigger screens than


says Coe.


“Drivers key in the delivery details and, if required the name of the person signing for it. At the same time, the depot can send driver instructions, such as what to do when they


Vixsoft has ‘bundled’ together the key functionality from its Freightfax software to provide SME users with everything they need to run their business: job quotations; production of manifests and invoices; job management to enable users to monitor when cargo is due to be collected or delivered, or which sub- contractor has been booked for the job; job accounting; and creation of customs entry for ocean freight.


“Large forwarders have


long benefited from Freightfax’s rich functionality and ease of use,” comments Kevin Drinkall, joint MD at Vixsoft. “But Freightfax is designed in a way that enables the big agents to choose which modules best suit their business; small forwarders don’t need that choice - they only need something that will let them carry on their work as a freight forwarder.”


In addition to the freight forwarding package, Vixsoft has developed a road


launching


management two


system, versions


simultaneously - one for large hauliers and one for SMEs. “More of our customers are entering


the pan-European


transport business,” Drinkall points out. “We were also aware there are a number of SMEs who want to enter this market, so we produced two different


versions Management.”


Road Management records which vehicle is booked for which job, when a load needs to be collected or when a vehicle needs to be serviced for example.


Both the SME versions of Vixsoft systems are available to rent from £40 per user per month, although there is a limit on the number of users at that price. The SME version of Road Management, for example, is limited to ten users, but it can handle an unlimited number of vehicles.


Bringing it all back home


Transport entrepreneur Richard Newbold, founder of both Triple A Transport Services and the freight exchanges Returnloads and Euroloads, has been named Business Man of the Year at the 2011 Essex Business Awards. Returnloads,


aimed at the


domestic market, has about 1,500 members and lists 2,000 new jobs every day. Euroloads, a newer offshoot of Returnloads, has about 1,800 members, but only a few hundred loads are posted per day. “We launched Returnloads in 2000 as a free service, but improved it and made it a paid-for product in 2008,” says Newbold. “It’s more interactive, like a social networking site. Euroloads is


still free to use


because we don’t have enough volume business to justify charging for it.”


of Road


Richard Newbold collects the award from Natasha Kaplinsky


Most Euroloads users are continental European hauliers delivering


in the UK and


looking for cargo to take back across the channel.


Newbold claims his sites are much easier to use than the many rival exchanges. “European hauliers hover their mouse


over the country in


which they are dropping a load and it will bring up any return loads from that country,” he says. “England is split into 15 regions, so they can do the same


thing. Hauliers aren’t


always that computer-literate and don’t want to have to key in loads of information to use a service.”


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