Testimonial Telematics – Becker & Co.

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Seven locations, 280 employees and 114 company-owned trucks: Becker & Co., a logistics provider predominantly serving the steel industry, is one of the financially robust companies within its sector, although one of the most important assets does not appear on any balance sheet: Given the shortage of skilled workers, the approximately 140 full-time professional drivers are a crucial economic factor, especially since they take on highly skilled additional tasks at Becker & Co.

Scanning in the cab

This has included, for the past few months, the digitization of delivery receipts using document scanners purchased for this purpose. “We've already drastically reduced the amount of paper as a result,“ reports Dirk Blechinger, who is responsible for dispatch at Becker & Co. Although the scanning rate for papers is still below 80 percent, the goal is to have all receipts fully digitized in the cab by the end of the year. Until all customers can do without paper delivery slips, the mobile scanners are “a very good solution.”

Behind this is Trendfire's manufacturer-independent telematics system, roadlox. The solution has been in use at Becker & Co. since 2014. Drivers work with standard Android smartphones or tablets equipped with the telematics app roadloxDriver. “We opted for Samsung tablets, which have proven themselves in demanding everyday use for over three years,” says project manager René Höfner. The devices display incoming tours on the screen and automatically start truck navigation once the routes are confirmed.

Significant time savings

Invisible to the driver is the “trendbeeTruck” telematics unit, which is also installed in the vehicle; It not only documents current position data and driving status, but also reads data from the digital tachograph. “The automatic remote reading and archiving of data from more than 100 tachographs alone saves our workshop staff a considerable amount of time,” says Blechinger, who is very satisfied with the robustness of the telematics units.

Within three years, there have only been a handful of service and maintenance incidents involving more than 100 vehicles. “In those few instances, we always received replacement units from Trendfire at very short notice,” emphasizes the dispatch manager, adding: “When you work with a German manufacturer with its own production facilities, you have clear advantages as a customer—such as direct points of contact, fast response times, and a five-year warranty on the telematics units.”

Trendfire's in-house-developed telematics units are connected directly to the truck's FMS/CAN bus and transmit the collected data via cellular networks to Trendfire's high-availability data center in Karlsruhe. Dispatchers can operate the system either via the web-based Trendfire telematics portal or through a transport management system. At Becker & Co., OnRoad has been used by BNS for many years. “The interface between OnRoad and roadlox was programmed by BNS and Trendfire during the three-month implementation phase,“ recalls Höfner, who was very satisfied with how smoothly the project went.

Fully customizable

Via the interface, tours created by the transport management system can be sent directly from dispatch to roadlox or to the drivers’ tablets. The drivers then work through them step by step, with the roadloxDriver telematics app providing the exact sequence of steps. “The app could be adapted very flexibly to our workflow and our processing sequence,“ emphasizes Blechinger. As a special request, Trendfire programmed an optional sales note feature for drivers. “Our drivers are on-site with our customers much more frequently than our sales representatives,“ explains Höfner, justifying this measure. “With the note function, drivers can report relevant observations without much effort, which a sales colleague should take a closer look at.“

Subcontractors on board

Thanks to the telematics app, subcontractors„ trucks can also be seamlessly integrated into mobile order management. “Around 30 drivers from subcontractors already have the app, which they can install independently on their own smartphones," who saves significant costs on additional hardware as a result. Order management and documentation, communication, and vehicle location via smartphone are available to dispatch for the duration of the job.

Fully documented

Another feature of the telematics app is the route section, which provides drivers with a clear overview of all key information regarding stops—from addresses to packages, loading equipment, and delivery notes. During the tour, each shipment status is recorded at the click of a button and reported back to the transport management system in real-time, ensuring that every order is completely documented. The tablet is only removed from its mount when its camera is needed to photograph damaged goods. Drivers also receive the prompt to scan the delivery receipt via the tablet.

The communication module is also part of the roadloxDriver feature set, allowing dispatchers to send messages to individual, grouped, or all drivers at the touch of a button. „This allows us, for example, to quickly determine which drivers are available for a special assignment next Saturday,“ explains Blechinger. The same applies to sending out new work instructions, which are stored on the tablet and have long since replaced the former paper driver's handbook.

Police convinced

In addition to the dispatch department, the HR department also benefits from roadlox, as the telematics solution accurately calculates expense reports for all drivers using existing location data and time records. An annual data CD with the monthly expense data can also be created for the tax office.

Another major advantage of the solution is route tracking, including actual speeds and times. “Thanks to the precise records, we’ve even managed to avoid a traffic ticket,” says Höfner. In that particular case, it involved a traffic zone with a time-limited speed limit, which the truck in question had demonstrably driven through only after the time limit had expired. “With roadlox, we were able to prove to the police that our driver had behaved properly,” says Höfner.