Transports Poupeau Logistique, based in Cognac (France), employs around 100 people with a fleet of approximately 70 trucks. The company operates in the southwest area of France and along a line from Bordeaux to Paris and Le Havre. It score business is transport, logistics and pallet delivery, with a of 32,000 sq. meter storage capacity where 30,000-40,000 pallets transit every month.
Member of the Volupal network, Transports Poupeau was looking for a simple and effective solution to manage shorter trips, since its regional turnover and the number of short trips it undertakes has steadily increased. The company also wanted a solution that could help manage different load volumes while providing the same level of service: “We strive to provide quality service, and for us, quality management means good customer service”, emphasizes Philippe Poupeau, CEO and Sales Director of the company.
When the company invested in telematics about 6 years ago, it chose Qualcomm: “We put together a list of key requirements and met different service providers. Unlike other companies, the Qualcomm team established clear limits from the beginning instead of leading us to believe that anything was possible, telling us what could be done and what couldn’t. Nothing is worse than fragile equipment, so we also took into account their reputation for producing rugged solutions. And what Qualcomm does, it does very well: all messages sent are delivered”.
Fleet management solutions have significantly reduced the amount of time spent on the phone with drivers. “We no longer have to cross our fingers to reach a driver. We know when a sent message is received and read.” says Mr. Poupeau, who believes that a learning period of around two months is necessary at first but today “The drivers would be lost without telematics”.
We are able to locate precisely our customer’s shipment; planning arrival times and deadlines is then much easier. “If customers are informed of a problem beforehand, the problem is 99 % solved, as they can adapt their organization consequently”, explains Philippe Poupeau.
With their on-board computers, drivers can access the same information as dispatchers. “They have gained their independence”, says Mr. Poupeau. Problem-solving that once took place over the phone is now based on written information: “We have a record of what has happened. Exchanges are fair”. Job planning is also easier, depending on the amount of driving time available that can be identified immediately.
Looking for a fleet management solution to manage the vehicles operating in shorter distances, Transports Poupeau complemented its existing Qualcomm equipment with the OmniExpress solution: “We didn’t want fancy maps. Maps that update a vehicle’s location every five minutes hold no value in regional transport”, says Mr. Poupeau.
The company was interested by OmniExpress’s geofencing functionality, which helps to define itineraries precisely. Fleet managers can check whether drivers keep on track: “This ensures that they follow the best possible route”, explains Philippe Poupeau. It is very useful to make sure that drivers stay off motorways and avoid itineraries with toll roads.
Transports Poupeau manage their fleet and drivers with Qualcomm’s FleetVisor web portal, offering an at-a-glance display of all the information generated by the two telematics solutions of Qualcomm currently installed.