Northern Southland Transport has installed EROAD's Ehubo windscreen mounted units into its fleet of South Island linehaul Prime Movers.

"The company can now purchase RUC over the internet and allocate it to particular trucks and other vehicles in their fleet." EROAD's Tony Warwood says.

Northern Southland Transport's Linehaul Operations Manager, Carl Drew, says the simplicity of the RUC management function improves both day-to-day fleet operations and provides a financial benefit for the company. In addition EROAD's GPS capability gives him complete visibility of his fleet.

"Tracking-wise, this is the first time that we have had real-time visibility over the whole fleet," said Drew. "It will allow us to give customers a much better service as well as monitor efficiencies from one location."

But it is the Eruc capability of the Ehubo system where the real efficiencies are to be gained according to Carl Drew.

"The on-line RUC capability saves us an awful lot of time," he said. "Now we don't have to manually record distance off the axle hubodometers. There is no need for drivers to physically record all of the data, have someone process it and then physically go and purchase what you need.

"This means that you don't have to ‘stock-up' on RUC based on what you think a vehicle might need in the way of RUC. You can easily monitor the RUC situation of your whole fleet from one terminal. Literally at the touch of a button you can purchase what you need, when you need it. This effectively improves cash-flow, because money is not sitting tied up in RUC that you have paid too far in advance."

Tony Warwood says one of his customers estimates that they could save at least two hours per truck, per week by purchasing RUC on-line. "It is like a retail shop that holds too much stock out the back," he said. "This system lets you monitor your RUC situation and only buy what you need."

Another major financial benefit for operators is the off-road report that EROAD provides.

"I can now produce an off-road report at the touch of a button, fill out a claim-form and send it in a fraction of the time," said Carl Drew. "Even for our linehaul fleet there are cost savings to be made. I can now accurately recover the off-road RUC our vehicles accumulate inside our depots. It may only be 400-800m at a time, but across the whole fleet over a whole year the amount will be a significant saving."

"We have found that the electronic measurement is 99% accurate. The mechanical system, on the other hand has a 2.5% inaccuracy, which can range up to 7% on occasion."

Tony Warwood says that even in its early stages the move to an electronic RUC system is looking like a winner for transport operators. "The accuracy and efficiency of the system is proving itself over and over again to us. There are huge efficiencies for operators in terms of time and money. The system is automatic and data recording by drivers is eliminated, so the process is so much more accurate. It is simple to use and gives management more information. It is a far cry from the old system."