Bray Transports reaps big benefits of cooperation with Transics
Transics helps Bray Transports take transport management to the next level. By implementing Transics’ fleet management solution, the French carrier has succeeded in optimising its everyday operations, while significantly boosting its performance. Impressive are, for example, the reduction in motorway costs (-20%) and in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption (-5 to -10%). Transics’ telematics software, which is praised by the drivers too, allows Bray Transports to manage its fleet more efficiently and in a more responsive and agile way, while ensuring legal compliance.
A family business established in 1962, Bray Transports currently employs 115 persons. It has a fleet of 90 vehicles, which consists of 45 Euro 5 and as many Euro 5/EEV heavy-duty vehicles. After a slowdown in activities, due to the economic climate that has negatively impacted the transport industry in the past few years, Bray Transports is experiencing renewed growth. To achieve that aim, it resolutely chose to diversify its offering and bolster its image. The carrier also launched an ambitious corporate programme aimed at making its activities more sustainable and responsible and, consequently, achieve the ISO 26000 certification.
Fleet management at the heart of the corporate project
Bray Transports has been using Transics’ solutions since 2006. It recently decided to replace its existing QUATTRO on-board computers by the TX-MAX. Incorporated in Transics’ TX-CONNECT back office platform, TX-MAX helps the management and dispatchers gain a centralised view on all relevant fleet-related data. This overview enables them to take proactive decisions based on, for example, up-to-date driving times and optimally plan every transport mission. The TX-CONNECT platform also includes advanced reporting features. The available reports and indicators help the carrier monitor and improve the operational performance, while raising productivity and profitability levels. Today, half of the heavy-duty vehicles at Bray Transports have been equipped with a TX-MAX on-board computer. The integration was a great step for Bray towards implementing its corporate strategy and taking fleet management to a whole new level, surpassing the limits of traditional transport management.
“For today’s carriers, efficient fleet management implies much more than simply controlling driving time restrictions and tracking the distances travelled. Our job is getting more complex every day. We also have to take into account criteria like social security times, fuel consumption, carbon emissions, driving style, anomalies and incidents, as these, too, have a major impact on our performance and on customer satisfaction,” says David Bray, General Manager at Transports Bray. “Add to that the needs of the back office: our freight planners have to be able to visualise and track vehicles as well as service times, in real time; they need to generate customised reports and have to communicate efficiently with the drivers. Last but not least, the ever-changing legislation plays a major role too. An advanced fleet management tool has to support carriers in complying with rapidly changing legal requirements, while also helping them to prove compliance to the controlling authorities.”
Multiple benefits
The TX-MAX on-board computer provides plenty of relevant features, such as the GeoFencing functionality. GeoFencing – or virtual surveillance – is a feature that combines geolocalisation with objective criteria or operational restrictions. It allows the carrier to automate numerous data in order to take proactive measures whenever needed. For example, GeoFencing enables Bray Transports to send positioning points to drivers and define automatic rules to notify the back office that a vehicle has (or has not) entered a predefined zone and has (or has not) exited it within the predefined time. More than allowing the real-time monitoring of operations, GeoFencing also enables carriers to keep their customers abreast of deliveries (i.e. whether the goods were delivered at the right address, at the right time) and then make an itemised invoice. “GeoFencing is an extremely powerful feature that helps us trim costs by optimising our operations and enhancing customer services. It provides us with clear insight into the exact status of each vehicle, depending on the criteria of our choosing. We could no longer do without it today,” Bray remarks.
“We have gained a substantial return on our investment in Transics’ TX-MAX and TX-CONNECT solutions, in the past few months already. One of the major benefits we’ve experienced is a 20% drop in motorway toll expenses, which is a significant saving for us. This reduction demonstrates how TX-MAX and TX-CONNECT greatly help us optimise our routes. Moreover, we have also cut total fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 5 to 10%. Here too, the savings are impressive and fit perfectly in our commitment to raise the sustainability of our operations. Today, we have only integrated TX-MAX into half of our fleet. So there’s much more in savings to come. We are confident that Transics will help us reap even more tangible and measurable benefits in the future, in the fields of performance, customer services as well as corporate social responsibility,’ Bray concluded.
Established in 1962 by Emmanuel BRAY, BRAY was initially an expert in the area of farm produce. At that time, it shipped products only for its own account. Gradually, however, BRAY became a transport company that shipped bulk goods. Over the years, BRAY Transports started providing its customers with transport solutions to meet their needs, thus becoming an expert in Just-in-Time transport for industry and large distribution companies, the transport of hazardous goods (ADR), transport requiring extra-tall trailers (between 2.90 and 3.20m high inside) and pallet transport throughout Europe. Today, under the management of Dominique BRAY (second generation) and David BRAY (third generation), BRAY Transports wishes to keep its status of an independent family transport business that is close to its customers.
www.transportsbray.com
Established in 1991, Transics International NV, develops and commercialises fleet management solutions for the transport and logistics sectors. Thanks to many years of experience, thorough R&D efforts and an intensive focus on the customer experience, Transics has become the leading European player in its market. Headquartered in Ypres (Belgium), Transics is active throughout Europe.