How Digital Transformation Prepared Martins Stock Haulage for the Future of Transport
Martins Stock Haulage specialises in livestock transport. As a 60-year veteran of the industry, it's recognised and respected across Australia for its expertise and tailored service. The business operates a fleet of 85 trucks in Queensland and New South Wales, transporting livestock across rural and remote locations.
Historically, unstructured fleet management meant that Martins Stock Haulage’s head office had very little control or knowledge of where its trucks were during the transportation process. This made it challenging to schedule jobs and monitor trips effectively. Communication channels between back office staff and drivers were similarly difficult to manage, leading to inefficiencies that cost the business time and money.
Working with Teletrac Navman to undergo a complete technological overhaul streamlined these fleet management processes and led to greater transparency across Martins’ entire fleet, helping the business prepare for the future of the transport industry.
“I could see the technology was coming.
We wanted to jump first and set the standard for our sector.”
- Jason Martin, Company Director of Martins Stock Haulage.
Managing Unique Responsibilities
Working within the livestock transport industry brings with it a whole range of challenges including compliance with animal welfare and management regulations as well as Chain of Responsibility laws. Trucks transporting animals are required to undergo regular layovers to ensure animal safety, meaning frequent stops and difficulty tracking them throughout a journey.
Balancing the unique responsibilities of this sector, while looking at the legislative changes affecting road freight as a whole, meant the organisation needed to update and streamline their fleet management technologies to remain at the forefront of their industry. “I could see the technology was coming,” says Jason Martin, Company Director of Martins Stock Haulage. “We wanted to jump first and set the standard for our sector.” Martins aimed to effectively manage its compliance needs while maintaining a commitment to driver safety.
Alongside these shifting responsibilities, managing a fleet of 85 trucks brought a range of maintenance concerns. Without effective monitoring, maintenance scheduling had become increasingly difficult as much of the fleet was located across remote eastern Australian locations. Installing a bespoke Teletrac Navman solution enabled Martins Stock Haulage to address their particular concerns and fortify the business for the future. This solution integrated Teletrac Navman’s GPS fleet tracking technologies alongside a variety of other digital tools such as FTC Manager, each designed to streamline business processes.
Integrating Fleet Safety And Compliance
Martins Stock Haulage invested in Teletrac Navmans’s suite of trucking solutions, including implementing iFace devices in each vehicle to reduce fatigue compliance violations and protect their drivers.
Transitioning towards a non-paper cab environment also streamlined many back-office processes. At the end of the week, when drivers wanted to track their hours travelled, they were able to instantly generate a detailed report. “It saved a lot of time,” says Martin. “What used to take two days a week for a full-time employee to track manually was done instantly.” With it came the benefit of easily monitoring of driver hours, so back office staff could substantiate a driver’s pay check and track cash flow accurately.
In addition to these changes, the business also looked at inefficiencies that might be reducing overall profit and impacting its bottom line. Much of its work was conducted off-road, but there hadn’t previously been an easy way to track this to claim fuel tax credits on the travel. With Teletrac Navman’s FTC Manager system Martins was able to uncover a retrospective $120,000 fuel tax rebate.
Using this solution, the business streamlined the process of claiming fuel tax credits and enabled accurate on- and off-road tracking that improved its rebate value. This cost saving went right back to its bottom line and allowed further investment in digital transformation.
“If we’ve ever got a problem, they’re always just a phone call away.
The whole process has been great for us.”
- Jason Martin
Preparing For The Future
To unlock these benefits, Martins understood the implementation process would require time and training for all staff to be effective. The process took place over several years, beginning in 2015, and required Martins Stock Haulage to build the use of Teletrac Navman solutions into their policies and procedures. This is an ongoing process, and one that requires continual updating to ensure knowledge retention.
Teletrac Navman’s team has provided helpful advice throughout this process. “If we’ve ever got a problem, they’re always just a phone call away,” says Jason Martin. “The whole process has been great for us.”
As a pillar of the livestock transport industry, founder Gordon Martin aimed to bring his company to the forefront of transport technologies and demonstrate the value of compliance to the wider industry, and the team today has continued this commitment.
Martins Stock Haulage’s technological overhaul not only ensures driver safety and compliance but has also saved the company thousands, and guaranteed its prepared for the industry-wide shift towards digital adoption.
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