Kainga Ora

Argus Trams Up with Power Trip for Kainga Ora’s EV Fleet Transition

Argus Tracking is proud to be working in collaboration with Power Trip to assist Kãinga Ora in transitioning its vehicle fleet to electric.

As part of New Zealand’s EV-first policy, the government aims to achieve a carbon-neutral public sector by 2025. With a substantial fleet, Kãinga Ora is at the forefront of implementing this policy by leveraging our telematics data with Power Trip’s Game Plan tool to address the challenges associated with such a large-scale transition.

The Issue

To kickstart the transition process, Kãinga Ora commissioned a fleet consultant to conduct an EV-readiness assessment in 2020. This assessment revealed that a combination of short and long-range electric vehicles (EVs) could fulfil many of Kãinga Ora’s travel requirements. However, the COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted travel patterns, making it unclear where the EVs would be charged, the potential challenges drivers might encounter, and the public charging infrastructure they could rely on.

“Transitioning our substantial fleet was a nightmare. We had to manually assess each vehicle and driver one at a time.” Nick Marcussion, Fleet Manager says.

Despite the adoption of the EV-first policy, Kãinga Ora needed to conduct detailed assessments for each vehicle and driver to determine the most suitable EVs and address their charging needs. There was a concern that drivers could easily opt for hybrid or internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by citing the unsuitability of EVs or lack of charging options.

The Solution: A Game-Changing Integration

Argus Tracking’s integration with Power Trip’s Game Plan provided a solution for Kãinga Ora’s fleet transition. Game Plan utilises historical driving data from Argus Tracking to demonstrate how different EV models can meet Kãinga Ora’s travel requirements. It also generates charging strategies, Considering the frequency of charging, reliance on public infrastructure, and identifying potential private charging locations at frequent stops.

Looking ahead, Power Trip is working with Kãinga Ora to bring new innovations to Game Plan, aiming to reduce and rationalise the number of vehicles in the fleet. Furthermore, Kãinga Ora plans to increase staff engagement and education initiatives to demystify EVs and alleviate any anxieties related to their usage.

Te Whatu Ora Northland

Argus Tracking Eases Renal Patients’ Arduous Journey

The road to dialysis is hard enough without transport difficulties, so Northland DHB’s renal unit softened the journey for its patients by installing Argus Tracking.

Dialysis day is a long day for Northland’s renal patients. Three times a week, chronically ill patients from the Far North need to be transported to Whangarei Hospital. They are picked up from Kaitaia at 9.30 am, arrive in Whangarei at noon, and leave for home again at 7 pm. Removing uncertainty from their tiring journey was a primary motivator in the Northland District Health Board’s decision to install Argus Tracking.

“Until last year, renal transport was contracted out to a private company,” says Renal Transport Coordinator, Rhea McDonald. “Then the DHB looked at the costs of bringing the service back inside the hospital. The savings were massive, so we took over vehicles from another company and installed Argus Tracking at the same time.”

“Our drivers are still getting to grips with the units in their vehicles, but we can plot their routes for them. If they get lost, they ring us and we know exactly where they are stopped. We can talk to them directly without them having to be on the phone.”

Northland’s aging population, many of them Maori, has a particularly high incidence of Type II diabetes which can lead to renal failure. Almost 200 patients in the area use some form of dialysis, so providing efficient transport to the renal dialysis centre is essential. “We use Argus Tracking to find out where our drivers are if they are on time, and when they will be back,” says McDonald.

“Coordinating drivers to get patients to the right hospital units and home again is vital. Most trips are local to Whangarei, Kawakawa and Kaitaia, but the chronically ill have to be brought in by van to Whangarei Hospital to see renal physicians.”

“Busy drivers no longer need to write down the details which are needed for National Transport Assistance,” McDonald says thankfully. “With Argus Tracking, I can pull the reports from the system.”

“We had the odd driver who liked to exaggerate hours,” she recalls, “but now we can compare daily timesheets with the GPS printout. Staff sometimes work long shifts up to 12 hours and they realise they need to be careful. We can check what they should or shouldn’t be doing.”

Assisting patients in and out of their homes, in and out of vehicles, and in and out of the renal dialysis centres gives renal transport drivers lots to do at the start and finish of every journey. Add in the loading and unloading of wheelchairs and walking aids, and it’s no wonder that travel details were not always accurate before the Northland DHB committed to Argus Tracking.

Since then, the renal unit has come to depend on the data provided by Argus Tracking. “It’s vital for budgets and spreadsheets,” says McDonald, “and we have become reliant on knowing exactly where our cars and vans are. It’s important we don’t lose connection with them, especially our disability van which carries passengers throughout Whangarei all day.”

“Argus Tracking has been good when we’ve picked up problems,” concludes McDonald, “and we’ve been happy with their customer service. If engineers are unable to fix a faulty device, they promise to replace it. Installing Argus Tracking has helped to coordinate our drivers, and the renal unit is using it to its full potential to improve daily transport services for our patients.”

Whakatane District Council

Council Finds Fleet Simplification with Argus Tracking

There’s only one thing the Whakatane District Council was looking for in fleet management software - simplification. With Argus Tracking, it’s got that and so much more.

Whakatāne District Council serves Whakatāne, Ōhope, Tāneatua, Edgecumbe, Matatā, Murupara and other communities throughout the Whakatāne District. It provides a wide range of services, including animal control, building and planning, water services, parking, roads and footpaths, environmental health and licensing.

Personal Administrator Donna Sparrow oversees the management of the Council’s fleet of vehicles. She’s part of the Finance and Corporate Services Manager’s team responsible for making sure the organisation makes the best possible use of ratepayers’ funds, while still providing the quality services and facilities the community relies on. Donna explains how Argus Tracking has helped her to transform fleet management from manual spreadsheets to intelligent tracking and management. The reporting capabilities and real-time live tracking provide efficiency and accuracy the Council has never had before – and deliver the information she needs to report to management, regularly or on demand.

Fleet Efficiency with Reporting

One of the biggest benefits of Argus Tracking is its comprehensive reporting capability. Donna uses three reports to monitor various aspects of the fleet – making it easy for her to inform management on driver behaviour and fleet efficiency.

Before the Council invested in fleet management software, she explains, everything was documented in Excel – a very time-consuming process. Now, generating these three reports on Argus is a simple process. T

he first report on overspeed is sent weekly to managers, letting them know which vehicles and drivers have overspeeds. “It’s a good way of reminding staff about safe driving practices,” says Donna. The utilisation report is run at the end of each financial year to see how many kilometres have been travelled in the last 12 months on each vehicle. They’ve just started using the idle report to monitor how long their OBU (On Board Unit) vehicles sit idle at certain jobs.

“The benefit of all three reports is having accurate fleet information available to management,” says Donna.

Spectate: Tracking Pool Vehicles, Health and Safety

Real-time live tracking often comes in handy. With a simple click, Donna is quickly able to find out where vehicles are, especially useful when it comes to the Council’s pool vehicles.

“If someone is late back, we can check to see where they are. Also, for health and safety purposes, if we know someone is heading out to a no-reception area, and they haven’t returned, we can see where they’ve gone.”

Exciting Software Developments to Be Added

After such a good experience with Argus Tracking over the past year, the Council plans to add more features and functions. Argus Tracking has three different plan options – allowing fleet managers flexibility to increase or decrease their service, depending on what they need from the software.

Donna says they’ll be adding the Driver ID function ability. Using iButton technology, drivers can log in using individual tags. This assigns them as the driver to a vehicle, so Donna will know where the driver and vehicle are at any given time providing additional health and safety reporting and understanding.

She adds they also now have two Loci asset-tracking devices, for assets like generators and trailers. “Last year we had a trailer stolen from our depot. If a Loci device had been on it, we would have been able to track it down easily. We hope to order more.”

Donna says that Fuel Watch will also let them better track and monitor fuel efficiency. She would recommend any business that operates a fleet to invest in Argus Tracking. “It streamlines your fleet, information is right there for you to access, you know when maintenance is required in advance so you can organise this, and you know where your vehicles are at any given time. It’s fantastic software.”

Ballance Agri-Nutrients

How Argus Tracking Transformed Fleet Management for Ballance Agri-Nutrients

Ballance Agri-Nutrients is a leading agricultural cooperative. The business imports nutrients and manufactures a range of fertilisers designed to help farmers optimise their farming practices. It supplies hundreds of farms, delivering products and visiting clients across New Zealand.

The business has 800 staff members and a 240-strong fleet, which makes tracking drivers and vehicles a major task. With speeding infringements and driver fatigue on the rise, the Ballance team knew it needed to improve safety and change the way it managed the fleet. That’s where Argus Tracking comes in.

Cutting Speeding Infringements in Half

Before Argus Tracking, Ballance AgriNutrients had little transparency over its fleet. A significant spike in speeding violations – up to 24 a year – was a sign that the business needed more oversight. But it wasn’t just about curbing speeding – the management team are aware of the system’s potential to monitor fatigue issues surrounding long periods of the day spent behind the wheel and its future use is to be further considered. A representative from Ballance Agri-Nutrients explains “Our drivers spend long hours on the road. It wasn’t just about speeding. Our goal has always been to keep them safe on the road.”

After looking into options, the team decided Argus Tracking would be the best solution for its fleet. Concerned about the stigma of GPS tracking software, Ballance was careful about the way it presented the change to drivers. “I expected a lot of push-back from the drivers. We made sure to front-foot it with communication on why we’re doing it – it wasn’t about sitting in the office looking at what our drivers were up to” says the Ballance rep.

Accountability and Improved Safety

Argus Tracking uses GPS to relay real-time this unexpected benefit arose when two vehicles were stolen recently. data on the vehicle’s location, speed, and status to the Ballance Agri Nutrients fleet managers. This allows the team to monitor vehicle positions, optimise routes, and ensure drivers have enough breaks. With this information at their fingertips, they have successfully encouraged safer driving practices among fleet drivers. “We’ve cut our speeding infringements in half since implementing Argus. It just goes to show – more accountability can create a positive shift in driver behaviour”, says the representative. The team doesn’t want to stop there. The next goal? Cutting driving infringements in half again this year. “It’s still a work in progress, and there are other tools in the Argus suite we haven’t fully tapped into yet that will help improve the safety culture even further.”

Stopping Thieves in Their Tracks

Argus Tracking not only enhances day-today fleet operations but also serves as a crucial tool in preventing and addressing security breaches. Because all vehicles are tracked and monitored, it’s much more difficult for them to disappear. The fleet management representative says this unexpected benefit arose when two vehicles were stolen recently “Thanks to the Argus GPS tracking system, we were able to swiftly locate and recover the stolen vehicles.”

Looking Ahead to Cost-Saving Opportunities

In New Zealand, many agricultural trucks are exempt from road-user charges (RUC) while off-roading. With Argus Tracking’s RUC Collect feature, the team can now see accurate records of all off-road activity, helping secure these cost savings without manual paperwork. “Before Argus, it was hard to prove exactly when our vehicles were driving off-road. The RUC Collect feature should save us money on diesel going forward.”

A Holistic View of Drivers

Another Argus feature the Ballance team is excited to implement: Driver Reporting. With detailed reports on driver behaviour, including braking, acceleration and how well they follow planned routes, the management team can get a better overall picture of how drivers perform. This more holistic view will be a useful way to hone in on individual drivers and offer training where it’s most helpful. “It will help me give feedback and training where needed so the fleet runs smoothly and safely.”

The Power of Technology

Thanks to Argus Tracking, Ballance AgriNutrients has revolutionised its fleet operations. It has significantly reduced speeding incidents identified potential costsaving opportunities, and even recovered stolen vehicles thanks to the tracking tech. The upcoming Driver Reporting feature is poised to provide even deeper insights. The management team is happy with the outcome – and looking forward to further improvements down the line. “Argus has a lot to do with improving our fleet management. I would recommend it for any businesses like ours.”