Woodland Logistics leads the remote revolution
Initially installed into 43 new vehicles purchased by Woodland Logistics to service a specific customer contract that is geographically spread across five sites in the UK, the new DigiDL technology from Tachodisc is helping the company seamlessly and cost efficiently manage the process of downloading all driver card and VU data remotely.
Lesley Thomson, Woodland Logistics Safety & Quality Officer explained: “Given the geographical spread of this new contract, which spans from Scotland to London, we asked Tachodisc if there might be a technical solution available that would allow us to better manage and control the process of downloading driver and vehicle data from all these locations – rather than deploying managers all over the country and relying on drivers.
“We have worked with Tachodisc for many years, and use their analysis software, so we trusted their advice when the technical team suggested the new DigiDL remote downloading device.
It seemed the ideal solution, but it was new to the market, nobody else had even trialled it in a live commercial situation. However, it was the only retro-fit device available that suited our requirements for truly facilitating remote access without human intervention – so with Tachodisc we set to work arranging trials and live tests.”
Lesley added: “During the trials we soon realised that this technology was amazing and would make the process of downloading data from remote locations so easy. Now, that is fully set-up, it is saving us so much time and more importantly, it ensures we are complying with legislation and protecting our O Licence.”
With the help of Tachodisc, Woodland Logistics have programmed the DigiDLs to automatically download drivers’ cards once a week and the vehicles once a month. Via GPRS, the data is then wirelessly transmitted to Tachodisc’s server where it is safely hosted in a protected environment. Woodlands HQ then access and analysis the data via Tachodisc’s analysis software programme.
“You cannot put a price on legal compliance, but the DigiDLs have literally removed the headache of downloading data from driver cards and vehicles that are spread all over the country,” confirmed Lesley.
Such has been the success of the trial on the 43 vehicles, Woodland Logistics are now retro-fitting the DigiDLs on all vehicles in the fleet with a 59 registration and above and on all new vehicles procured. The company aims to have the DigiDL downloading technology fitted on 50% of the fleet by the end of 2011.
“We could not have done this without Tachodisc’s expert advice or sophisticated IT structure. Thanks to their continued support we are now leading the way with this remote technology,” said Lesley.
Karen Crispe, Managing Director at Tachodisc said: “Woodland Logistics are testament to how the DigiDL can transform how data is collected and managed from remote locations. As a result, many more companies are now talking to us about this unique technology and how we can support the installation and integrate it with our analysis software.”
The DigiDL is being offered by Tachodisc as one all-encompassing package, from point of order thought to fitment and management of data. “This simple process provides customers with all the benefits of remote downloading with relatively little financial investment or IT infrastructure required,” added Karen.
The GPRS unit can also transfer data from any location in Europe which supports its internal SIM.
For further information on the DigiDL, call Tachodisc on Tel: 01925 283320, E-mail: sales@tachodisc.co.uk or visit: www.tachodisc.co.uk
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