Pool Car Management Easy Work For Harrison Grierson with Argus Tracking
Whiteboards, logbooks on keychains and hundreds of people using a handful of cars - this is the stuff fleet management nightmares are made of. Harrison Grierson is well-known as one of the top engineering and design consultancies in New Zealand. Their fleet of pool cars is spread out across the country, from Auckland down to Queenstown, often making tracking and maintenance a logistical nightmare.
Chief financial officer of Harrison Grierson, Matthew Fleming, says the company decided to invest in a fleet tracking option for a variety of reasons:
“We’re in the business of tracking time, so we wanted to make better use of the tech now available – become less about logbooks, and shift to GPS. Vehicles are our number one health-and-safety risk, so we were looking for a way to better monitor good driver behaviour, automate tracking of our fleet and its maintenance, and record our safety checks.”
Geofencing Tracking Whereabouts of Pool Cars
Gone are the days of manual logbooks – using Argus Tracking’s geofencing functionality, Harrison Grierson now keeps tight track of when, where and for how long their pool cars are used. With the work they do, they charge the use of their pool cars out to jobs – something that had been a tedious and manual process, and often left room for human error. Matthew explains that by geo-fencing their offices across the country, the company can systematically manage the use of their pool cars. This makes things better for their clients, removes the heavy admin work, and improves the company’s health and safety.
“Our team can now book a pool car, jump in, and once they leave the geo-fence we have set up around our Harrison Grierson offices, their booking starts. When they return, the booking closes, and their entry and exit times are automatically logged.”
Goodbye Spreadsheets, Hello Automation
With hundreds of people using a handful of cars, it’s imperative Harrison Grierson stays on top of vehicle checks and maintenance – the safety of their employees and other road users is at stake.
“Vehicles are our number one health-and-safety risk. Knowing where our cars are gives us better visibility of our people, but it’s also good to know from a maintenance and health-and-safety point of view.”
Traditionally, vehicle check sheets have always been a necessary hassle – paper-based, time-consuming and with no guarantee of accuracy. Using Argus Tracking’s check sheet app, which works alongside a barcode applied to each vehicle, this work can be done – and signed off – digitally. Having an automated vehicle tracking system also means Harrison Grierson can get rid of Excel spreadsheets, and instead rely on Argus Tracking’s automatic compliance feature to let them know when WoFs and services are due – keeping them ahead and compliant with their health and safety obligations.
More Informed Decisions
Harrison Grierson is now also enjoying greatly improved pool car efficiency. With Argus Tracking, they can ensure cars are allocated and booked out, to minimise the time cars spend on the lot not earning money. Matthew says they can now see where their money is best spent on their pool car fleet – and as leases are due for renewal, make informed decisions about whether to keep a car at a branch.
“Because of Argus Tracking, we’re now able to rationalise our vehicle needs based on facts and data and make decisions on whether the number of cars we have in our fleet and at each branch is needed. We’re currently working through how many cars we have as leases come up for renewal, and talking about what other options might be more cost-effective in certain situations – like Uber for example. In the long run, this will potentially save the company a great deal in vehicle costs.”
Right Balance Between Price and Functionality
A year-and-a-half ago when Harrison Grierson was in the market for management software, Matthew explains the company put out a full RFP to a lot of different firms – but it was Argus Tracking’s superior integration with vehicle booking and ERP systems that finally had them sold.
“Like most things, there were other options that were more expensive, had different features – but we needed something that had the right balance between price and functionality. Most important for us was the vehicle booking side of things which Argus Tracking’s competitors just did not have.
“There were a few teething problems to begin with – underground carparks and GPS don’t always agree, offices with geo-fences located next to motorways – but all things outside of Argus Tracking’s control. They’ve done a great job of managing and resolving those environmental issues bespoke to us, and have filled our requirements.”
