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Warehousing and Freight Forwarding
Business: Warehousing and Freight Forwarding
Industry: Logistics
Location: Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth, Australia
CLIENT REQUIREMENTS
There dozens of warehousing and freight forwarding companies based in Australia, but only a few can be considered industry leaders, with global connections. Our long-time client with offices and centers in various locations in Australia is a great example of a warehousing and freight forwarding company that offers local services, but with global connections. The company’s intestate courier, road and air freight services and related warehousing services support and help Australian businesses at various levels. If one checks the kinds of services and attention that can be provided by the company, then it will be discovered that this company offers a wide selection of efficient, reliable and timely domestic delivery solutions which can specifically work for your business requirements. For the last 10 years, the company has been providing small and large Australian businesses with custom courier and road services and air services. And for the company’s road services, the management is backed by a team of licensed and professional drivers, and a fleet of modern and safe trucks that passed industry checks and standards. The fleet of trucks and vehicles are regularly checked and maintained, and features some of the required safety technologies and gadgets. Unfortunately, these are not enough, and this manifested in the recent troubles and issues that are reported and filed involving the drivers and the fleet of vehicles.
SAFETY ISSUES
As a logistics company covering multiple locations in Australia, it is expected that a fleet of trucks and pickups is maintained to keep up with client demands. Drivers, operators, and employees have their hands full attending to most of the critical projects and services of the company including but not limited to container unpacks, storage, metropolitan and remote deliveries, country freight, interstate delivery and reverse logistics. And to complete all these jobs, a huge chunk of its workforce are always on the road, responding to the challenges thrown by road conditions and traffic and of course, the condition of the vehicles. For the team of drivers and employees on the road, the changing road conditions and overall condition of the vehicle pose certain risks. This is evident in a number of accidents reported in the last 2 years by the company involving poorly-equipped vehicles. For example, a truck driver of the company walked away unscathed after the tyre of the delivery truck blew out while navigating the Princes Highway, NSW. The 31-year-old driver was on the way to complete a delivery, driving about 65 kilometers north on a Saturday afternoon when the accident happened. According to the shift supervisor, the minor accident was caused by a blowout in the rear right tyre. In another incident, the company reported another issue with blown tyres, this time with its employees who were also passionate caravan owners. A couple, who were both employees of the said company, were found by their caravan in a remote area east of Geraldton. It was reported that the couple with their son was exploring the region when all of a sudden the tyres of the caravan started blowing one after the other. They were stranded for hours, and the harrowing experience left them with a lesson to learn regarding the right preparation and use of safety devices. One of the road safety devices that were identified were tire pressure monitoring systems. It seems that most of the trucks and vehicles of the company are not equipped with these devices, and some are fitted with old and dated models of tire pressure monitoring systems.
WHAT WE DID
When we learned about the increase in cases regarding blown tyres and similar accidents on the road, we immediately contacted the management and sat down for a meeting. Once we have zeroed on the problem, we recommended the best solution possible- the installation of Tyre Pressure Monitoring System or TPMS, a helpful indicator on the vehicle, yet largely unappreciated.Blown tyres are occupational hazards especially for a warehousing, logistics and delivery company, so we decided on the TPMS that should be fitted on all vehicles. In essence, the TPMS is an intelligent and safety device that can warn the driver if at least one of the tyres of the truck or caravan are under-inflated, which can create unsafe driving conditions. Usually, the low tyre pressure indicator comes in a yellow symbol, and will lighten up the dashboard instrument panel in the form of a ‘horseshoe with an exclamation point’. Keeping track of tyres and driver safety on the road As soon as the TPMS was installed on the cars, the drivers get appropriate information regarding the condition of the tyres. The alerts that can be produced by the TPMS can help the drivers take appropriate steps, and avoid accidents along the way. The TPMS from Reverse Safe systematically checks the tyre pressure of each tire, whether there is a rise or drop in pressure, thus keeping the driver informed every step of the way. The TPMS from Reverse Safe is fitted with Lithium ion battery, and has cordless sensors and easy to install. We did a follow up on the company 2 months after the fitment of TPMS, and we learned that the incident of tyre blowouts were reduced, drivers reported improved braking distance and handling and the management remarked how they managed to cut costs, all because of the installation of the TPMS.