Optimising Transport Performance and Compliance

This case study shows how our team can adapt and deliver ‘boots on the ground’ transport optimisation consultancy. We can work just as well to deliver legal compliance as we can operational solution enhancement.

The challenge

Our client for this project was a national bulk chemicals processor and distributor, OSS. From a base in the northwest of England this company ran a fleet of over 40 articulated and rigid tanker vehicles collecting bulk liquid‘s for processing as well as delivering finished chemical loads to customers. Over a period of time this client had found that there transport costs and controls had drifted and that as a proportion of revenue these costs had grown to almost double what they had been a few years previous.
In addition to this, the client had also found following regulatory VOSA inspection that it was not fully compliant with all the requirements of its O licence and as a result needed to put in place significant controls and organisational structures to deliver change quickly. If they did not make the necessary changes, the business would lose its operators licence and would therefore not be able to operate.

Approach

Our approach to this project was twofold; firstly and most pressingly we needed to get to grips with the compliance situation within the organisation. We drafted in a member of our operational transport specialist team who was fully conversant in all the rules and regulations required to meet O licence conditions. Our transport specialist was able to review all the process is practises procedures and organisational structures in place to identify what needed to be done and in what order to bring the business back into a state of healthy compliance. The second string to this project was about operational efficiency. Our lead transport consultant who was in charge of the regulatory compliance element of the project guided our transport modeller who was used to enable us to understand potential options to reorganise vehicle routes and service area coverage to establish opportunities to save cost and Dr efficiency.

Actions

Our team took a strong grip of the operational challenges at this business. Our lead consultant sat down on a daily basis with the operations director for the company and took them through the specific issues identified within the process. This interactive process with business executive enabled our lead consultant to quickly identify who within the business could be positioned to retake control of transport compliance. Processes, documentation and reporting lines were established to create a new way of interacting with drivers to ensure that all the necessary checks and balances were completed on a daily basis.
Our transport modeller set about gathering operational data to enable them to fully understand current performance and operating practise across the transport fleet. In addition to historical information they also gathered current fleet data including longevity of existing leases as well as building an understanding around driver contracts and restrictions. The modeller then used the data and information provided to create a robust base case against which we were then able to model alternative scenarios that could potentially provide business benefit.
The process was iterative and all possible outcomes were considered including alterations to size and shape or fleet, changes to driver shift patterns, as well as the potential to outsource some or all of the transport activity.

The Results

The client first and foremost were taken to a point of legal compliance, lifting the spectre of losing their operator’s licence. Next was a very significant step forward for the business, and it was achieved without the client needing to recruit any additional staff into the business. Our team had identified who within existing management structures could provide the necessary support to ensure the ongoing compliance of the fleet and therefore there was no subsequent on cost for the business.
The fleet optimization review yielded significant positive results for the client. A new optimised transport solution was evaluated and presented to the client. This solution enabled the client to remove some of its ageing vehicles from its fleet that were no longer fit to meet future ongoing business requirements. Overall the business was able to reduce its fleet bye 5 vehicles, or 12.5% of its fleet base. By evaluating geographical coverage days and driver shift patterns our team were able to identify changes to process that meant greater volume could be both collected and delivered on fewer vehicles covering less miles and less hours. This solution significantly increased cost efficiency for this business and helped stabilise overall business performance.