SRT Logistics boosts efficiency and safety with telematics

Challenge

Delivering on industry demands

The logistics industry is the backbone of the national economy. The Australian Logistics Council estimates road freight alone totalled more than 230 billion tonne kilometres in 2020-21, with expected growth of 56% between 2018 and 2040.

As the industry grows, so do the expectations of Australian consumers and businesses. Ineffective or unreliable logistics partners can have a big impact on brand image, as customers expect stock to be readily and consistently available. And when it’s not, they take their money elsewhere.

Logistics organisations are aiming to meet this challenge by providing more data-driven insights to customers.

SRT Logistics has a vision to deliver the right goods, to the right place, at the right time. While seemingly simple, successfully managing logistics operations takes a lot of effort and careful planning.

Solution

Driving growth with telematics technology

To support its rapid growth, SRT Logistics worked with us and local partner MTData to implement a robust telematics strategy for tracking its fleet and navigating compliance. This included high-resolution GPS vehicle tracking, Engine Control Management (ECM) modules for tracking engine data like oil pressure and fuel consumption in real-time, and the deployment of MTData’s in-vehicle driver tablet system, called Talon.

Further, we worked in partnership to create a robust Mobile Digital Video Recording (MDVR) solution – a CCTV system with four cameras, fitted into vehicles.

“Compliance was a big focus for our initial technology strategy,” says SRT Logistics Chief Operating Officer, Brad Hilder. “The industry was starting to move to telematics solutions to track vehicles and capture data about trips. We saw telematics – and particularly MDVR – as a way of ensuring we’re staying on top of regulatory issues and keeping our people safe.”

Approach

Taking it further by connecting systems in real time

While these capabilities provided a transformative new telematics experience, a lack of integration raised issues. Staff had to use multiple systems and screens on different platforms, and some processes were still done on paper. This hindered productivity, as it was time-consuming and could lead to information loss.

SRT Logistics integrated its MTData telematics platform with the Freight 2020 fleet management system, used to build and manage full fleet manifests, including key driver, vehicle, and cargo information. They created a unified digital workflow, improving operational efficiencies and simplifying the user experience across multiple core business processes.

Pallet tracking also posed a significant challenge. SRT Logistics leases pallets to move goods, making tracking their movement vital to avoid costs of replacing lost pallets. Previously, tracking was manual, with paper records brought back to depots and entered into spreadsheets. This was difficult to update and manage.

MTData worked with SRT Logistics to develop a job template for the Talon in-vehicle tablet system, allowing drivers to enter pallet data from their trucks, while reviewing jobs and taking delivery signatures. This integration into the Freight 2020 system eliminated data double handling.

The next priority was pre-departure checks – essential audits of vehicle condition, job information, stock recording, and driver ‘fit-for-duty’ safety. These were previously done on paper and later entered into the Freight 2020 system, creating similar challenges to pallet tracking.

MTData helped SRT Logistics digitise this process using the Talon in-vehicle tablet application. This was seamlessly integrated into Freight 2020, centralising rich information about vehicles, trailers, and drivers.

Impact

Moving towards an integrated, paperless future

SRT Logistics’ ‘real-time connect’ integration has taken its telematics capability to the next level, as they move towards becoming fully paperless.

Drivers can now enter pallet information and complete their manifest directly on the MTData Talon solution, providing customers with a real-time, comprehensive view of stock arrival.

The pre-start check integration has facilitated faster maintenance capabilities.

“With all of the information automatically sent to Freight 2020, when the fleet manager creates a service report all of the faults that have been logged as non-urgent come up on the service report for action,” says SRT Logistics Manager of Information Technology Michael Brown. “It’s streamlined the whole fault management process whilst improving safety and compliance.”

It’s also helped them become a more agile organisation. If a driver calls in sick, teams can quickly identify and assign another suitable driver within around 10 minutes.

While the additional capabilities have delivered a range of incredible benefits now, it’s also helped SRT Logistics think about what’s possible going forward.

“We really think about this as an investment in our future,” Brad says. “There are a lot of possibilities. There is potential for us to capture additional telematics information like kilometres travelled and feed that into our service database to help us with scheduling, provide better forecasts, or improve servicing requirements.”

They’re confident that Telstra and MTData will support them every step of the way.