Meanwhile the company is saving a cool £60,000 per year in fuel costs as well as increasing its profits by running a considerably more efficient business. “We knew that some of our drivers were not taking the fastest route and it was taking them longer than it should to complete their jobs,” explains Neales Waste’s Health, Safety and Environmental Manager Debbie Emmott. However, with the introduction of the Navman Wireless satellite tracking solution this problem has been virtually eliminated. Rather than routing vehicles manually, the waste management company now uses the latest satellite tracking technology to make sure that the nearest driver is sent to complete the job. Adds Debbie Emmott: “We are now able to pinpoint and locate a vehicle within seconds and identify exactly where it is and how far away it is from the customer location.”

Increased Revenue

In addition to fuel savings, this more targeted approach has led to an increased number of jobs being completed per day and a greater profit margin per job. Neales Waste estimates that there has been around a 28 per cent increase in the number of completed jobs per day since the technology was implemented, resulting in a sales revenue increase of around £500,000 per year.

The company has even appointed its own systems analyst whose role it is to identify the areas where the technology is bringing greatest benefits and assess how it can best be implemented to maximise savings and revenue. What’s more, the technology has also brought other benefits to the company. For example, sales managers are now able to quote much more accurately for jobs than before, using instant information from the Navman vehicle tracking tool about how long it would take a driver to get there.

Other benefits the technology brings include greater vehicle security, safer driving through enforced speed limits and lower wage bills because of a reduced need for overtime payments. Enthuses Neales Waste’s Debbie Emmott: “The Navman Wireless Fleet Management solution has been our most successful initiative to date to improve our business and environmental success.”

Tailored Solution

Importantly, Navman Wireless satellite tracking technology is not just a ‘one size fits all’ solution. It can also be tailored in conjunction with the supplier to meet the specific needs of an individual company. In the case of Neales Waste this has resulted in a system that automatically records exactly when a bin has been picked up and therefore a job completed.

So how does this work? Using a connector box plugged into a sensor on the PTO (Power Take Off) of each truck, the system automatically detects when the lifting gear is engaged for 15 seconds to indicate that a bin has been picked up. An event is then sent to the Navman Wireless OnLineAVL software in order to record the exact location as each bin is emptied. As a result, Neales Waste can detect exactly which bins have been emptied even if there are multiple containers on the site (Navman’s satellite tracking solution works up to an accuracy of three metres).

Proof of Service

Nor are these the only benefits of the bespoke solution. Using this information Neales is able to help the customers by providing more accurate billing as well as identifying whether customers would be better off on a monthly contract rather than paying per pick-up. Importantly the solution also acts as a proof of service for Neales Waste and its customers in a way that a conventional satellite tracking solution would not.

Environmental Benefits

These are not the only benefits confined to the company itself. They are also, in a small way, benefiting the entire planet. By automatically routing drivers to their nearest jobs, Neales Waste is cutting down on fuel bills and therefore reducing carbon emissions.

Concludes Debbie Emmott: “We want to be a leader in developing a culture of good working environmental practice and we are proud of the actions we have taken so far in improving the environment.”