Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Day Aggregates, the supplier of bagged aggregates and specialist materials to builders’ merchants and the construction companies, is using the PODFather’s vehicle check system to keep track of its fleet compliance.
Day Aggregates operates a fleet of 190 vehicles delivering over 4 million tonnes of aggregate to locations across the South of England, and was looking to use technology to eradicate paper tickets from its vehicle check process. Pre PODFather, transport teams at each of the company’s twenty depots had to collect and scan over 1,000 paper-based checks each week. Now, drivers have PODFather’s smartphone app to capture vehicle check information which is uploaded back to the transport and maintenance teams in real time.
“Using PODFather gave us the opportunity to take easy to use, yet really effective technology, and embed it into our operation,” says John Owen, Head of IT at Day Aggregates. “Before PODFather our vehicle check process was totally paper based but now our vehicle compliance checks are paper free which is better for us as a business and better for the environment.”
PODFather’s vehicle check system makes sure that all necessary information is collected by drivers before vehicles leave the depot. Drivers log into the PODFather app, which is downloadable from the App store and compatible with most Android and iOS devices, and are prompted to complete their vehicle checks before they can start work for the day. Completing the vehicle checks electronically ensures complete compliance across the Day Aggregates fleet and allows the immediate escalation of any defects to both transport and maintenance teams.
“The PODFather system gives us real peace of mind,” Owen adds. “We know that our drivers have completed all the industry required vehicle checks prior to their departure from our depots and the fact that it’s collected and stored electronically means we can deal with any issues, and find any information, quickly and easily as and when we need to.”
Colin McCreadie, Managing Director at PODFather says: “Our vehicle check system is just one part of the PODFather functionality suite,” adds . “Using the PODFather driver app our clients can capture start of day checks, record defects and everything is stored securely in the cloud which means any information can be retrieved electronically by the driver in the event of a roadside inspection offering real peace of mind to our customers.”
