York House Construction, Yorkshire
York House Construction Ltd is a Yorkshire-based company founded in 2000 which specialises in design and construction across a broad spectrum of building sectors; handling industrial, commercial, residential, educational and retail projects, in addition to refurbishment and work on sensitive sites and listed buildings.
Proud of its reputation for providing a reliable, high quality service, the award-winning, NHBC-registered company is involved with a diverse range of projects including luxury flats, mosques and football stadia - listing Landmark Developments, Chartford Homes, Evans of Leeds and Bradford Bulls amongst its extensive clientele.
Enjoying an impressive growth rate, York House Construction currently has 140-strong workforce and fleet of forty vehicles, comprising Ford Transit, Vauxhall and Peugeot LCVs to 3.5 T, together with various items of plant machinery including telehandlers and 1.5 – 8 T ‘360’ track excavators.
Ken Oliver, Plant and Transport Manager, explains how York House’s investment in advanced vehicle tracking technology has benefited the company over the past three years, not only through generating cost savings of over £30,000 p.a - through enhancing security, optimising productivity and dispensing with the need for a satellite navigation provision - but also by making it easier to comply with duty of care responsibilities.
He says, ‘‘The threat of theft is a major issue and with our plant machinery ranging in value from £10 -£35K, I was looking for a reliable, cost-effective system that would boost vehicle security and could also be used to inform Duty of Care strategy.’’
Having carried out three months’ research into five separate tracking options, Ken’s choice of the Quartix system was reinforced by favourable word-of-mouth reports from others in the industry.
‘‘The deciding factors,’’ he comments, ‘‘were that Quartix offered the fastest installation deal - entirely on our terms; we were able to have five new excavators fitted with tracking units before leaving the distributor so that they arrived on site already protected. I also considered the 3-year lease times more workable than other options.’’
Displaying well-honed business acumen, Ken details the cost savings.
‘‘As a result of installing tracking technology, York House is saving £2K p.a on its commercial fleet and plant insurance premium,’’ he states, ‘‘set to double next year.’’
‘‘We also gained unexpectedly when, in an attempt to steal one of our excavators, the people involved couldn’t locate the tracker to disable it, so didn’t risk moving the vehicle; we saved £2K on our excess because the vehicle remained on site.’’
‘‘The system is a definite crime deterrent,’’ he remarks.
In a discerning move, Ken used the installation of advanced tracking technology to engineer further cost savings of £8.5K p.a. by setting up an in-house service depot. ‘‘The tracking logs provide an audit trail for each vehicle from which we can plan service and maintenance schedules; we use the system to establish accurate real-time positions of the vans - allowing a mechanic to drive out in a serviced vehicle and swap it for one on site - this seamlessly optimises productivity and avoids downtime. Previously we were forever chasing vans for servicing, as they can be at any of our sites across the North of England.’’
Expanding further, Ken explains, ‘’With some pieces of plant machinery used on-site for eight hours a day and others for just two or three, a van driver used to spend one day a week visiting sites to read the hour-meters for servicing and scheduling; now all that’s required is to check the printed or online tracking logs - so our ROI is further enhanced by savings of more than £7,500 p.a. in terms of fuel and driver hours.’’
Shrewdly maximising the potential of the Quartix system to preclude the expense of a satellite navigation provision, Ken reports, ‘‘We use the zoom-in/out map facility to direct our own or external delivery drivers to new sites by the shortest route; routes can also be printed from previous journey reports for new drivers to follow.’’
‘‘In this way,’’ he continues, ‘‘the company can save £250 per week between the ten delivery and maintenance vehicles whilst dispensing with the need for sat nav – generating at least £10K p.a. in cost savings.’’
Ken uses the weekly, emailed tracking logs - featuring key management information - to assist his duty of care remit. To drivers for whom high speeds have been recorded, he sends copies of the logs - highlighting the safety implications. Conversely, he has used the records to defend employees, notably challenging and winning reversal of a speeding fine acquired during working hours.
He says, ‘‘Awareness of the tracking system has resulted in a 60pc drop in the number of speeding tickets acquired by the van drivers – resulting in improved safety - and fuel efficiency…..
Ken Oliver offers this advice to companies considering installing tracking technology, ‘‘The Quartix team are so customer-orientated and the tracking system so versatile that it’s well worth taking up the option of a month’s trial to see what the system can offer your fleet.’’
For online demo or details of system trial, visit
www.quartix.net or phone: 0870 013 6663.
