Page 1 of 1
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:36 pm
by bobbi o
i'm looking at introducing this system (http://www.tomtomwork.com/en) for my company as a management aid in increasing productivity,being more efficient and generally making life easier for myself,while still keeping an eye on things without charging around the country chasing men all day.
i initially thought this was a system for the major hauliers and anyone running large operations and fleets of vehicles,but the more i looked into it,the more i realised,how good it would be for the contractor who's running more than one site on a daily basis,without site management.
am still in the research mode and have spoken to a similair sized contractor running 4 vehicles, a couple of stories he told me:
1. new truck on the road,breaks spring and damper at the end of week one. boss asks-how did that happen? driver says-dunno boss. boss goes online and gets printout of days route,drives route himself and discovers he drove over a speed bump at 38mph in a school zone.
2.worker puts in for 8hr sunday shift,boss logs in with tomtom work,finds the van engine started at 11am,drove to site,sat with engine running for 45mins,worked for 4hrs,drove home via local shopping centre and bookies.
you can gather he's a fan of the system,what does anyone else think?
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:24 pm
by Tony McC
It's the way things are going, I'm afraid.
I know damned well that even those I considered to be my 'best lads' would skive occasionally, but as long as it was 'occasionally', and didn't get out of hand, I would turn a blind eye. So, if one of the lads used the works van to take his missus to the Asda, I wouldn't say owt, as I reckoned it was a 'perk'. However, using the tipper wagon to shift spoil from a 'foreigner' private job would get a severe reprimanding, at the very least.
It's a sad indictment of contemporary workers that bosses feel it necessary to install 'spyware' to keep an eye on them, and it's a concern that some bosses will install such gadgets even when they are not warranted, but technology has always been a double-edged sword.
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:59 pm
by Dave_L
If I had a large workforce with vans etc - I would not allow any private use - as many firms see to do so! I'd use the system, for sure.
Local plant hire firm uses a similar system on it's contract hire fleet of mini-slews for Avent - the workshop can log into the system and see what machine was started/stopped and where it currently is. An impresssive system. All done by mobile phone technology.
The amount of local building contractors vehicles (inc lorries/tippers etc) I see driving around out of hours and weekends is shocking - how do they get away with it?? I know they aren't working on local sites I've seen some loading mini-slews etc at private jobs - including one that we priced!!!
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 10:22 pm
by bobbi o
with the huge cost of fuel at the mo,this contractor reckons some drivers were using up around £40 of fuel a week on non company business.this of course has now stopped. the way things are going it might be not far away until all small contractors running a few vans have to have this system
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:55 pm
by Bob_A
Tony McC wrote:It's the way things are going, I'm afraid.
I know damned well that even those I considered to be my 'best lads' would skive occasionally, but as long as it was 'occasionally', and didn't get out of hand, I would turn a blind eye. So, if one of the lads used the works van to take his missus to the Asda, I wouldn't say owt, as I reckoned it was a 'perk'. However, using the tipper wagon to shift spoil from a 'foreigner' private job would get a severe reprimanding, at the very least.
It's a sad indictment of contemporary workers that bosses feel it necessary to install 'spyware' to keep an eye on them, and it's a concern that some bosses will install such gadgets even when they are not warranted, but technology has always been a double-edged sword.
Couldn't agree more Tony.
I'm in a different trade (telecoms) but we have a swings & roundabouts thing.
Sometimes I put out all the strings and really do make the effort and against all odds I deliver.
I also have my skiving moments but I have a rule that when I skive others will not suffer or be inconvenienced.
If I was to be electronically tagged to prevent my swings & roundabouts you can guess what will happen. I will simply do my job to my job description, take lunch at my allotted time and go home. If the job doesn't get done then that's tough.
I'm sure this true in all trades and walks of life 
If bobbi o only wants to save few fuel and not neccassarily spy on his workers then couldn't it be done in other ways.
Perhaps targeting the highest spender and ask him to trial a new system rather than tar the whole workforce?
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:05 am
by bobbi o
having recently lost my contracts manager,i currently spent around 80% of my day chasing the men around usually 3 different jobs in our area.
with the expected downturn in business, i want to increase the time spent chasing work and decrease time spent chasing men. tomtom work seemed like the ideal solution to my problem.
i had the meeting today with the rep and have signed up,with the cost over 3 yrs less than a single drum roller,it was a no brainer.
i'm certain this is the way forward for small contractors such as mysef to run their business using state of the art technology. i intend to integrate this with an i.t / sage accounts system reducing management workload while increasing productivity.
i would like to see our company becoming the most professional and efficient in our field.this cannot be achieved by standing still
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:40 am
by seanandruby
I see this as big brother technology and would'nt hesitate to tell you to shove your job. When i had the firms van i had to be up earlier than usual, check it before setting out, make sure it was cleaned drove miles in my own time dropping off men and materials out of work time with no extra pay, filling up out of my own pocket and waiting weeks to be reinbursed. Also an unpaid security guard for the van and arguing with the neighbours about parking etc, etc:On the plus side for the driver you will ( not i dont think ) be able to time what time the driver leaves the house till the time he gets home and pay him/her the going overtime rate. Driving is a stressful job when coupled with doing a hard days work and as you demonstrate a thankless one. never mind the wear and tear on the vehicle, what about the wear and tear on the driver!!! 
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:27 am
by Dave_L
I guess it all comes down to trusting your workers.
I know I could trust all of mine - but in a bigger organisation, I could see it's worth.
Infact, many companies already use a similar system.
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:05 pm
by ange jones
We use a similar system in our company but we have a large scale distribution arm,
Other benefits you may want to consider rather than trying to catch people out.
Reduction in engine idling time (you can measure the time a vehicle sits idling) one instance we found a chap unloading at night time and rather than change a light bulb the engine was left running to use the lights from his vehicle for hrs on end you would be surprised how this adds up.
More accurate costing of jobs you can make sure you have an accurate basis to consider when pricing a job.
And even if you dont want to spy on your staff the fact that they know you can will be enough of a detterent
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:23 am
by seanandruby
ange jones wrote:Reduction in engine idling time (you can measure the time a vehicle sits idling) one instance we found a chap unloading at night time and rather than change a light bulb the engine was left running to use the lights from his vehicle for hrs on end you would be surprised how this adds up.
...... In the interests of H/S would it be his job to change a light bulb, or is he expected to be an unpaid sparky to? To think a company is going to make money from spying on the already overworked and probably underpaid workforce gets me so mad.
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:46 am
by lutonlagerlout
i think the AA had this on all their motors years ago,as for driving i dislike driving with a passion and would like to see fuel rise to £2 a litre might cut back on all the Chelsea tractors blocking the roads in the morning.who know ppl like mrs.lagerlout might even walk or cycle the 3/4 mile to her office instead of taking the 2.3 turbo for her commute
as for the spyware shame it wasnt in years ago,would have saved me a lot of grief
i was 18 working and the firm hired me a transit (vincent van hire= the famous dutch racing driver as we used to pun) anyway i was told warned and threatened not to drive it at night.
so friday night me and ten mates pile into it for a night out,i wont bore you with the details but 6 hours later 5 are locked up at a very secure B+B ,4 are in hospital and the van was written off during the horseplay that had occurred with some members of the travelling community.
i held on to the job by the skin of my teeth but had to work Saturdays for 6 months to pay off the damage
then i couldn't get a cab one night so i decided to take the van to the pub and leave it there for collection the next day
went back next day brickbat right through the windscreen
then (see a pattern emerging yet??) the fuse for the radio went,so rather than buy a new one i swapped one (the one for the dash)
then a week later i blew the engine doing 90 MPH up the M1=== reason oil warning light was off because someone had swapped the fuse
if this sat-spy thing was in force i doubt i would have done this,i was young and stupid,but not that stupid
i agree with sean driving the pick up van is a thankless task and normally the perk is that you get to use it fairly at the weekend and or evenings,but no one really has the right to skive off because they fancy it.
LLL (hungover btw)
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:37 pm
by seanandruby
LLL HOWS YOUR ED NOW? Ooops sorry for shouting when your hung over. I think if it was now and you were younger, in charge of the van, on the p*** you would still do it. You know as well as i do that when the drink is in we become invisible also invincible. :;):
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:39 pm
by flowjoe
Works both ways Sean, Weve had this kind of kit for years.
It takes the lads 1hr 30mins to get to site, and 55mins and twenty mile less to get back again. Something has to be wrong ?
We have had vans stolen and retrieved in minutes.
We had one case where a serious allegation was made by a young lady about being propositioned by a guy in a works van similar to our colour scheme and logo.
We could prove (and did) to the Police that we didnt have a van in that area at that time, If we didn`t have the kit the doubt about the lads in the vans in that area would always be there.
As long as everybody knows up front there shouldn`t be a problem.