The best of both worlds...

• Reduced empty running by 14 %
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Improved fleet utilisation and load efficiency

Small logistics providers have to deal with varying demand, routes and distances covered. Fleets are usually optimised in terms of carrying capacity, vehicle size and route in order to meet the deadlines of regular jobs. That can mean having to turn down potentially lucrative larger jobs or new longer routes, despite some vehicles being idyl or running under-capacity. This is a constant and costly challenge for logistics companies.

Joining a logistics pooling service can help solve this challenge. When you team up with other logistics providers, you can bid for larger contracts, exchange capacity, and even arrange for return logistics to decrease running empty or half loads.

Jigsaw Solutions enabled just that in Scotland by joining eight local transport companies into one logistics pool. A state-of-the-art information system allows traffic office staff to monitor all aspects of vehicle and driver operations, ensuring efficient performance and load, and optimising driver working hours. Included in the telematics system is an engine-idling warning system that automatically calls the traffic office when the vehicle has idled for more than four minutes. If the driver is not available and the vehicle continues to idle, the system then reports directly to the transport manager.

One of the partners, Currie European, has been able to set its target load fill to 90 %, well above general haulage norms, and it has boosted its backloading potential and, with partners, implemented more advanced fleet management processes. One such feature is live goods and logistics tracking.

Key benefits

Partner companies managed to reduce empty running by 14 % and increase overall fleet utilisation by the same factor. What's more, the combined network can now bid for larger contracts transporting goods to destinations further away. Careful management of how to share benefits, losses, and responsibilities has enabled the network to grow in the last decade. Through resource-sharing and greater combined means, partners were also able to further invest in new management processes.

The system has helpted the companies by keeping fuel bills down, monitoring vehicle downtime and idling, and providing additional security (advance warning of abnormal vehicle activity). Some challenges were thrown up over the years, such as damaged trailers, but open and honest cooperation helped the partners deal with these problems as they arose.