Moving with MiX

Moving with MiX

They may be from vastly different fields, but each company is an established leader in its own right. Now MiX Telematics and H&M Removals have joined forces to bring a tangible reduction in transportation risk to H&M’s customers, while reducing day-to-day running costs.

With more than 24 years of experience transporting household and office furniture across South Africa, H&M Removals has gained a reputation as one of the most trusted brands in the furniture removals and self-storage business. The company’s partnership with MiX Telematics – a leading global provider of fleet and mobile asset management solutions – has proved positive.

“In April 2013, H&M’s fleet controller selected the MiX Fleet Manager solution to help reduce the company’s risk in terms of driver behaviour, fleet efficiency and operating costs,” says Richard Coates, sales director at MiX Telematics (Africa).

H&M Removals identified driver behaviour issues as the leading cause of inefficiencies within the company’s fleet and the highest risk to cargo and road safety. The company also needed to find a way to track any differences between pumped fuel and used fuel in order to reduce operating costs.

“We needed a solution that could track driving events like speeding and excessive idling, monitor fuel consumption, provide driver scoring and maintenance management, as well as comprehensive reporting,” says Angela Julies, fleet controller at H&M Removals.

The implemented solution comprises the MiX Fleet Manager web-based platform and on-board computers that were installed in the company’s fleet of 35 trucks. This provides valuable telematics data and enables real-time vehicle tracking, in order to maximise the safety of en-route freight and reduce the day-to-day operational costs.

Moving with MiXWorking through Tectra Telematics, a local MiX Telematics channel partner, H&M Removals chose to roll out a complete fleet management solution based on in-vehicle telematics using a two-phase approach.

In the first phase, 17 vehicles that regularly travelled long distances received on-board computers. At the same time, training on how to configure and use the MiX Telematics web portal was rolled out at the company’s Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg branches. The second phase saw installation on the remaining vehicles in the fleet.

The MiX Telematics solution has also enabled H&M Removals to design and implement a comprehensive driver-performance management system. Combined with corrective driver training, this has improved the average driver ratings from 85 to 96 percent.

Over-speeding warnings and excessive-idling notifications, together with other driver behaviour monitoring parameters, have further helped the company to reduce day-to-day fuel consumption from an average of 2,4 to 2,7 km/l.

Since the solution combines driver scoring, detailed event logging and after-hours vehicle tracking into a single, automated report, the company has also been able to exercise greater fleet management control without requiring additional fleet controllers or other resources.

H&M Removals also relies on the system to help manage driving licences, Public Driving Permits and the vehicles’ Certificates of Fitness.

Today, H&M Removals operates a complete MiX Fleet Manager solution comprising the MiX Communicator on-board computers and real-time vehicle tracking units.

“Our advanced fleet management solution has enabled H&M Removals to reduce the risk of accidents, reduce fuel consumption by 12 percent, improve driver behaviour and achieve 100-percent compliant vehicle utilisation,” concludes Coates.

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Focus on Transport

FOCUS on Transport and Logistics is the oldest and most respected transport and logistics publication in southern Africa.
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