Town and Country Haulage, the transport arm of Town and Country Aggregates, has increased fleet efficiency since installing Routemaster telematics.

Routemaster is a cloud-based modular toolset, created by AGM Telematics of Corby, which comprises three components: Planner, Dispatch and Tracking. Each module can be used individually or together to provide an end-to-end logistics back office solution. It is built on the latest ‘Here’ mapping platform with maps updated automatically every quarter and all software updates are free for the life of the system.

Town and Country operate a mix of HGVs, including tippers and curtainsiders, for regional deliveries of aggregates throughout Cheshire and the northwest. A typical round-trip averages four hours and orders are processed on a ‘next- day’ basis.

Company director Chris Morten said: “We installed the systems about a year ago and within a short while we could see the benefits. We wanted to get a tighter control on harsh acceleration, braking and cornering to see if we could reduce wear and tear on the fleet. Naturally this was aimed at keeping maintenance costs down. I can’t put an exact figure on it, but there’s no question, the system has certainly made a difference. Moreover, we have cut down on unnecessary idling and eliminated unnecessary and ‘unscheduled’ journeys.”  All of which, says Morten, have increased efficiency and helped to maintain a more profitable operation.

Town and Country Haulage has also benefited from Routemaster’s vehicle tracking module which is fitted to all 10 vehicles in the fleet, which has been "a great help", according to Morten, as the company previously didn't know where any given vehicle was at any given time without telephoning the driver.

"Now, we can keep a watchful eye on the fleet, which is useful when adding new jobs, as we can instantly select the most suitable vehicle and let the driver know his instructions," said Morten.

“We run a busy operation and this system takes away a lot of the hassle. It’s easy to use and if ever we have a problem or query, the team at AGM usually sort it remotely. Good value and in my view, a major plus for any transport operation.”