"The fact that you can tell customers where your vehicles are just by looking at a screen alone is worth its weight in gold to us."
City Hire started in 1980 in Kelvin Grove, Brisbane and has two distinct divisions. The first is City Hire, which specialises in hiring equipment for DIY, trade, construction and renovation. Most customers prefer to pay City Hire to transport rather than transport themselves.
The second division is Event Rentals, which supplies a wide range of equipment for large events and functions.
The company has three branches and 26 delivery vehicles and operates from the Gold Coast up to the Sunshine Coast with most of the work carried out in the Brisbane Area.
Easier Communication with Guys on the Road
City Hire has two Delivery Coordinators in their head office - one for City Hire and one for Event Rentals. Some jobs are booked in advance but most come in on the day. The company schedules jobs by truck, so once the Delivery Coordinator knows which truck has which goods, he can send the delivery address to the vehicle while the driver is at the depot. "Drivers no longer have to waste time looking at maps before they leave the depot or stopping at the side of the road. The OnlineAVL2 is very good at showing detailed maps - right down to the street number," says Mr Hughes.
Navman Wireless Navigation enables the Delivery Coordinators to send very detailed messages. Mr Hughes explains, "Sometimes a Scaffold pick up can consist of 10 components with multiple quantities of each component. We can type each component into the system so there's no error and nothing gets forgotten. It's much better than trying to communicate all that information over our 2-way radios."
Better Visibility and Productivity
"There was no resistance from drivers when we installed Navman Wireless. They've come to realise that they don't have to spend so much time on job sites. If someone takes 15 minutes doing something that should take 5, we can ask him about the holdup or contact the customer if the holdup was their doing, says Mr Hughes."
This visibility has made the drivers work more efficiently, its cut down on unauthorised vehicle usage and enabled Mr Hughes to charge clients more accurately. He says, "If we know we have a ‘difficult' customer who's not there when they should be, we can increase their delivery fee so we're not out of pocket for our time or our fuel. The system has given us a better picture of both our business and our customers."
Fuel Savings
Navman Wireless is saving City Hire on fuel costs as it helps educate drivers. The M-Nav can show drivers another route than he usually takes which might save time, especially during heavy traffic times. "The system even reroutes for the driver if he hits traffic and goes another way. Our guys simply don't get lost anymore," comments Mr Hughes. The company can also feel more comfortable hiring people from out of town who don't know the area.
Time savings which equate to money savings
When City Hire first considered installing a tracking and navigation system, they looked at a simple cost versus saving analysis. Mr Hughes explains, "We figured that if half our vehicles could save 15 minutes a day in travel time and time spent communicating with head office, that would save us double the cost of the system over three years. In reality, we're saving about 15-30 minutes a day per vehicle for the entire fleet! We're very pleased with the system and what it's saving our business."
More Efficient Customer Service
With Navman Wireless, City Hire's Delivery Coordinators can answer customer queries immediately. Mr Hughes says, "If a customer knows we're coming at some time in the afternoon but has to leave their site or home, they can call us and the Delivery Coordinator just looks at the OnlineAVL2 to see where the truck is. He then gives the customer a good estimate of when the driver will be on their way based on the driver's location and the type of job he's completing." This instant access to information impresses customers and enables drivers to continue with their work uninterrupted.
City Hire - DIY, trade, renovation hiring equipement
Event Rentals - for all your party hire needs
"The fact that you can tell customers where your vehicles are just by looking at a screen alone is worth its weight in gold to us."