Dispatch and fleet operations are a complex business. Most of the time you’re running on razor thin margins, and you have little demand predictability. It takes an unusually broad range of skills and experience, and, in today’s economy of reduced headcounts and budget cuts, it takes smart, careful choices in outsourcing.
Butte Sand & Gravel Co.
Butte Sand & Gravel Co. is a family operation in Sutter, California with a rich history – they are a leading provider of aggregates in Sutter County, and have been in operation since the 1960’s. The company owns a sand and gravel mine, where it mines its materials and sells them via scale to its customers. They own a fleet of about 60 trucks, hauling for themselves as well as other contractors, mainly heavy and general engineering and heavy construction contractors.
You can imagine the complexity that comes with a fleet of 60 trucks. In the past, calling truckers and employees sometimes took four hours a night, keeping dispatchers working overtime to dispatch the next day's work. On top of that, billing could be a total headache, compromising customer service and cost control. Butte Sand & Gravel Co. decided it was time to take charge and overcome these obstacles by implementing HaulIt in to their dispatch operations.
HaulIt handles quoting, dispatching and billing, provides real-time visibility of your costs, and integrates with TrackIt for fleet and workforce management, including in-cab telematics.
“With the HaulIt system, the dispatchers are out of here most of the time by four o'clock in the afternoon. Billing is so much more efficient because the system eliminates manual entry of driver’s tickets and reduces billing errors. It makes everything seamless.” - Darren Morehead, President of Butte Sand & Gravel Co.
The price you charge for your product or service is one of the most important business decisions you make. Setting a price that is too high or too low will–at best–limit your business growth.
Smart quoting takes into account truck type, tonnage capacity, and driver and fuel costs. This allows Butte Sand & Gravel to evaluate virtually every load and compare what each load is costing the company, helping them to better determine their pricing strategy. The ability to historically measure and analyze profitability ensures smarter quoting on future jobs.
“That is a fundamental feature of the system. It’s important to know your round times and know what each load or each group of loads is costing; we go over that in detail every day to make sure that every job is generating profits.”
Stay tuned for more on Butte Sand & Gravel Co. and their journey with HaulIt.
