Why data and sustainability are so important to talk about
At TRAVIS Road Services, we talk a lot about sustainability and digitalisation. Aside from these being major trends in the industry, we, as a future-forward company see these as necessary directions for transport companies to take if they want to grow and flourish in years to come. TRAVIS offers carriers an affordable and simple solution to these trends. So let’s look at how exactly TRAVIS does this and why we find these trends to be so important.
If we look at how TRAVIS came to be, we can see a constant trend – optimising haulers routes. How was this accomplished? By providing a centralised data-driven platform that enables transport companies to plan, book, and pay for their road services including truck parking, truck wash, tank cleaning, and truck repair. Not only does this save companies time and money but it also translates to an improved environmental footprint.
Sustainability
Road transport accounts for about a quarter of CO2 emissions and this number is only increasing. Additionally, 20% of the kilometres driven in Europe are caused by trucks with empty trailers and this number does not reflect partially loaded vehicles.[i] The EU is passing heavy vehicle regulations but much more can happen to help lower these numbers. With TRAVIS, planners can efficiently incorporate road services in drivers routes. Without proper planning some drivers are left to find road services on their own creating potential detour mileage. When you add those unnecessary detours as well as the time spent looking for road services along your route, you have a substantial amount of detour mileage. This unnecessary driving is also unnecessary emissions. When a planner is able to map out a driver’s route with booked services included, the routes are optimised and the environmental footprint reduced.
Digitalisation
The transport industry is lagging in digitalisation compared to other sectors. To stay competitive in the future, there is no way around digitalisation – customers are often way ahead of transport companies, they have to be able to adjust as it is impossible to be quick and nimble if your decisions are based on data from different Excel sheets. Exchanging data with customers or partners is then also a challenge. If you want to optimise your routes or pro-actively manage the maintenance of your fleet, you need digital tools and data. With TRAVIS, you can get better insight and control as well as a much more efficient way of working to better manage and maintain fleets. With TRAVIS’ way of working, the administrative workload and the amount of receipts, invoices and expense sheets is greatly reduced. Reports and registrations via TRAVIS are comprehensive, always up-to-date, accessible in real-time and easy to export. Ultimately, the centralized purchasing of road services via TRAVIS helps you to reduce costs and gain new competitive advantages. Digitalising your business is important and with TRAVIS, you can easily do so.
In order to stay competitive in the transport sector, it’s important to adjust. The solutions to the trends of digitalisation and sustainability are not always easy spotted. With TRAVIS, you are utilising a platform that helps to optimise your road services. Although this may not be the first thing to come to mind when looking for solutions, it’s a great way to reduce costs, decrease your footprint through reduced detour mileage, create smoother operations and provide ease for both you and your drivers.
A fifth of road freight kilometres by empty vehicles – Products Eurostat News – Eurostat (europa.eu)
