How Conroy Removals put the brakes on speeding

Business Need

Conroy Removals is a trans-Tasman company with a global reach, delivering clients’ possessions safely around the world as efficiently as possible. Within Australia, the company has branches in Brisbane, Townsville, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth which, between them, use approximately 50 vehicles to cover the country.

Australia’s vast distances, straight roads and the time-critical nature of the removals industry make it easy to accrue speeding fines, prompting Conroy to look for a way of reducing tickets and improving safety for drivers and other road users. 

Changes to the Heavy Vehicle National Law have also underlined the importance of health and safety, so Conroy sought to improve fleet visibility and find a more efficient way to track maintenance.

Solution

Conroy installed EROAD systems in its entire Australian fleet, rolling them out branch by branch.

Drive Buddy, the system’s in-cab alert system, ensures drivers know when they’ve exceeded the speed limit, while giving managers the information they need to support the people behind the wheel.

“It helps us monitor and look after the guys a lot better,” says Conroy operations manager Wayne Moody. “Our operations team is a little more finger-on-pulse.” Wayne can follow what’s going on, either from Australia or the company’s head office in New Zealand, because both countries share a single technology platform.

However, EROAD is no basic, one-size-fits-all solution. In fact, Conroy’s Brisbane-based IT guru Kingsley Gordon helped fine-tune the Inspect mobile app to Australian conditions.

“The templates didn’t quite suit our needs, so we made some changes,” Kingsley says. “EROAD has been very open to that, as long as it’s within reason and we have good feedback to support our requests.”

EROAD Inspect makes vehicle inspections simple, letting drivers log defects and even take photos to share with maintenance teams. Details are uploaded and viewable straight away in Depot, alerting the right people if parts need to be ordered, and letting maintenance crews track problems to resolution.

Customer Benefits

Since installing EROAD, Conroy has seen a marked drop in speed infringements. The system’s in-cab Drive Buddy feature makes drivers aware in real time that they’re going too fast or harsh breaking.

As well as offering on-the-spot coaching, EROAD’s system records the information, providing senior staff with opportunities to have conversations with drivers who may need more support.

“EROAD’s comprehensive data has allowed us to discuss speeding with our drivers and show them the specifics of when, where and how fast,” says Kingsley.

It helps to give Conroy the peace of mind of knowing that the company is meeting its own health and safety obligations, which is particularly important following Chain of Responsibility amendments to the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

Inspect, EROAD’s electronic inspection app, also contributes to safety, helping to ensure vehicles are roadworthy. It saves precious time, too.

“We were previously using paper,” says Kingsley “and we were probably wasting 30 to 40 minutes a day. It was hard to track and manage. Now we’ve cut it down to roughly five to 15 minutes, and we can electronically manage and view that in the EROAD dashboard.”

The result, says Kingsley, is a more streamlined approach to vehicle safety.

“It’s definitely made us more proactive in keeping the trucks safe. Because maintenance is simpler to manage, we’re able to keep on top of things a lot more easily.”

The Inspect app is now part of Conroy’s daily routine.

“We’ve made the inspections standard,” says Kingsley. “You have to do it before you hop in the truck. It’s part of the process, like grabbing the keys, seeing if the vehicle needs fuel and checking the job in the back of the truck.”