VTC, a valued customer of our HVI App, is revolutionizing their fleet management by enhancing vehicle inspections and fleet compliance data with real-time alerts and advanced analytics capabilities. By utilizing the HVI App, VTC effectively manages their fleet inspections and audits, ensuring operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.
About VTC
VTC is a leading transportation company that specializes in the safe and efficient transport. Their commitment to reliability, safety, and customer satisfaction has established them as a trusted name in the transportation industry.
Objectives
- Enhancing Operational Efficiency: Streamline vehicle inspection processes to reduce manual effort and administrative tasks.
- Reducing Downtime: Minimize vehicle downtime by quickly identifying and addressing issues.
- Cost Savings: Lower maintenance costs through proactive and predictive maintenance.
- Ensuring Compliance: Maintain high compliance with regulatory standards.
- Improving Safety: Enhance fleet safety standards across the fleet with real-time monitoring and alerts.
The Challenge
As Fleet Manager, Joe Suppa is responsible for all of the industry assets, fleets, and equipment's. These responsibilities include overseeing drivers and mechanics.
With fleet operations that extensive, Joe Suppa realized several years ago that paper-based processes for Driver-Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIRs) were making the job more difficult than it needed to be.
“I’d have 200 sheets of paper across my desk every single day,” Joe Suppa said. “The paper DVIRs were a drag for years until we discovered the HVI App.”
Keeping track of defects and equipment faults was neither efficient nor reliable using the paper-and-spreadsheet processes in place.
“I’ve got a large number of vehicles in the fleet, so it’s really difficult for me to remember if a vehicle needs wiper blades, right?” Joe Suppa continued. “If one’s got an engine issue, that’s going to stay top of mind. But, for the one that needs wiper blades, the chances of me actually getting that taken care of were pretty slim.”
VTC needed an easier, more reliable tool for vehicle inspections, fleet maintenance, and vehicle reporting, with visibility that stretched across the whole team.
The Solution
About four years ago, VTC started looking for solutions. At first, the options encountered seemed slow, clunky, and disjointed. Then they discovered the HVI App.
“I was like, man, you don’t have to click 50 buttons to get things done,” Joe Suppa said. “At the time, we had close to a couple hundred vehicles. We just sent our list to HVI, and they set everything up.”
Widespread Adoption, Quick Results
Most of the VTC staff are semi-retired — typically above the age of 60. Even so, resistance to change and new ways of working wasn’t an issue with the HVI App.
“I just love it. Everybody loves it,” Joe Suppa said. “Some of our employees are a bit older, we’ve even got an 45-year-old driver. He figured out the app just fine.”
Once implemented, equipment malfunctions and faults were less frequently resulting in a vehicle downtime situation. The team would see a defect the moment it was recorded in a pre-trip or post-trip inspection, set a priority on it, and communicate with the mechanics. As a result, Joe Suppa could focus more attention on major issues.
“It has definitely uncluttered everything, getting rid of those paper sheets,” Joe Suppa said. “The efficiency has also helped us a whole lot on the billing side — for example, to go back and look at mileage. That’s probably saved us in excess of what the program costs each month, just in terms of man-hours trying to hunt something down.”
Audit Ready, All the Time
Because VTC receives some federal and state funding, the organization must adhere to the same regulations and audits required of a federal or state government agency.
Audits are quite common, with officials routinely checking many aspects of operations, verifying mileage and vehicle maintenance details. If a fleet manager notices a discrepancy in the data, it’s quick and easy to go into the HVI App system and make corrections to ensure the data is accurate and up to date. If a vehicle is overdue, the team will receive a notification.
“It’s actually been a lifesaver there,” Joe Suppa said. “If a driver goes above or below their mileage, that’s an audit finding which can cost us money. So to keep tabs on that definitely is a good return on investment.”
The digital fleet maintenance platform has been a major improvement over the old spreadsheet-based system, especially in terms of audit preparedness.
“With the Maintain section, it’s very easy for me to pick a vehicle, export a report to Excel, hit print, done,” Joe Suppa said. “There’s all the records the auditors need right there. So that works out very well.”
Streamlining Maintenance
Previously, VTC manually kept track of oil changes. Now, for every oil change that’s done, the coordinator will use the HVI App to mark it as complete. They then use the HVI App platform to send the details to Joe Suppa, who processes it through accounting.
“Previously, like I said, we used Excel spreadsheets, which had to coincide with a sticker on the windshield that would fall off in the hot sun. So the drivers never knew when they were actually due for an oil change,” Joe Suppa said. “Now the coordinator says, after you get your task done, get over there and get your oil changed. So that works really, really well for us.”
KeyResults Overview
Objective | Challenge | Solution Provided by HVI App | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Enhance Operational Efficiency | Manual inspection processes | Streamlined inspection processes | Significant increase in operational efficiency |
Reduce Downtime | Delayed issue detection | Real-time alerts | Reduced vehicle downtime |
Cost Savings | High maintenance costs | Predictive maintenance | Lowered maintenance costs |
Ensure Compliance | Regulatory compliance challenges | Compliance tracking | Improved compliance with regulatory standards |
Improve Safety | Safety concerns due to lack of monitoring | Real-time monitoring and alerts | Enhanced safety standards across the fleet |
Customer Testimonial
"In about every facet of our business, we found that the HVI software has become a really integral and important tool in what we do."
If paper processes and inefficient communication systems are making fleet compliance more difficult than it needs to be, then it’s time to schedule an HVI App demo. Contact us today to speak with a product specialist or explore how the HVI App can help you achieve your goals this year.