During lockdown, we were delighted to secure Campeys of Selby as a new software customer, and recently Subir Gupta, Aquarius IT’s National Account Manager, caught up with the Transport Manager, Harry Campey, to ask about his journey with Aquarius IT so far.

First, to set the scene, Subir asks for a little bit of background information on Campeys.

Campeys of Selby is a fourth-generation, family-run business that is based in Selby, North Yorkshire. The company first started in the 1940s and was taken over by the current generation of Campeys in 2005 – throughout our focus has always been on meeting the individual needs of our customers. Since we took over the company in 2005 with just two trucks, we’ve grown into a nationwide company, operating a fleet of over 100 vehicles, and 180 trailers.

What services do you provide?

Services include general haulage, palletised deliveries, warehousing, and specialised glass transportation. We are one of a few UK hauliers that specialises in glass delivery – it’s a niche, high risk service, and we have outstanding KPIs. We are also a member of Palletforce and in their 100% club

Turning to Aquarius

Was it a risky strategy to think about changing / investing in new digital technologies during a pandemic?
Not for us, we actually flourished during the pandemic with sales more than doubling – this was largely organic growth which is a testament to our customer-centric approach.

In support of this growth and our customer’s growth, we, therefore, had to adapt quickly; we purchased outright another 50 new and used vehicles, created more employment opportunities, and invested in Aquarius IT’s digital technologies to help us manage this growth and our compliance requirements.

Specifically on tacho analysis, what were your motivations for going digital?

Before ClockWatcher Elite we used a paper-based system, which as you can imagine was very time-consuming – it would take two people two days a week to manage all the administration involved. And then as the business grew and we took on more and more drivers, the burden further increased and we started to struggle to keep up with the admin.

We wanted everything to be quicker, with less admin, and to be more environmentally friendly, which could only be achieved by investing in digital tacho analysis software.

Plus, during the pandemic with social distancing rules, going digital was the sensible choice, which is why alongside ClockWatcher we also invested in e-SIGN, the software’s integral Driver De-brief system. In addition, you also helped us plug our third-party Remote Downloading system into ClockWatcher Elite directly so that the data is transmitted automatically.

Have you achieved this with ClockWatcher Elite?

Yes, 100%, and we are proud to say we maintain the highest operational standards. At our latest DVSA Audit we achieved top scores across the board for compliance with an overall rating of 1 ‘Mostly Satisfactory’. We have a double-green OCRS (with no prosecutions or public inquiries). We have also been FORS silver accredited for 5 years – this forms part of our commitment to continue improvements in compliance and operate to the highest standards, which ClockWatcher Elite helps us do.

Since onboarding with ClockWatcher Elite we have also significantly reduced our paper carbon footprint with a 90% reduction in stationary costs. And the member of staff who was dedicating two days a week to managing the tachos is now down to one day and has been successfully deployed to work in other areas of the business.

Moving on to January 2021, you then took on Asset Maintenance, Driver Defect Reporting, Document Manager, and Time & Attendance – the full works. Can you explain?

It’s very simple really, ClockWatcher Elite was running like clockwork (no pun intended) and the support and service that we were receiving from Aquarius IT was excellent. The natural next step, was to have one all-encompassing digital system that would power all the different facets of our transport operation. We wanted everything to integrate, and be seamless and we wanted one account manager and one company to call.

What was the reaction from your drivers?

It was important for us that they bought into the system and wasn’t overwhelmed with all the technology changes. So, with Document Manager, the Defect App, T&A, Infringements all built into the same App for ease of use, we were able to make the changes progressively which meant as we turned on new features, the drivers were already familiar with the functionality and how it all worked. This also meant, we didn’t have drivers calling us all the time to ask for support – they’d grown accustomed to the App and were able to use and navigate around it easily.

With so many products to discuss, can you give us just one top-line benefit you’ve derived from each of these portals?

It is difficult to give just one but for:

Time & Attendance – all our timesheets are now automated digitally. At the touch of a button, we can quickly and clearly track start and finish times, and being all in one system we can easily compare with the tacho data for greater transparency. The overlay of the drivers working hours to the tacho hours really is the most useful feature and saves countless hours per week.

Payroll Integration – this is connected to Time & Attendance, but it’s very much worth mentioning how you custom-built us a system that separates hours and pay grades and processes driver’s expenses online. We’ve gone from two days of work to one morning, and our drivers are happy with the fact that we can react more quickly. As a family-run company staff welfare is very important to us.

Document Manager – Two words efficiency and eco-friendly. We have broadcast and had more than 10,000 documents acknowledged via this system, which would have originally been paper-based and time-consuming to follow up with individual drivers. Its transformed how we communicate.

Driver Defect Reporting – again this was originally done manually, and was a time-consuming process and could take up to a week for minor faults to be reported. We now have instant reporting, so for example, if a driver reports a chip in the windscreen, we get notified instantly and we can get it fixed before it turns into a crack and an expensive windscreen replacement job with a VOR – saving us time and money.

Asset Maintenance – we did already use software to manage our maintenance requirements, but we wanted everything to integrate which is why we moved wholesale over to Aquarius IT. For this one though we need to go into a bit more detail.

How are you finding Asset Maintenance?

The biggest, most significant difference is the system’s cross-integration with the Driver Defect App, and as a result, we’ve significantly reduced VOR days. We also use the automated planner for maintenance scheduling and MOT dates, which links with our third-party and external workshops for 360° integration. At the last count, over the last 12 months, we have completed more than 1000 PMIs. Plus, the system is easy to use; we’ve found there are fewer clicks to get to the information you need, which again reduces admin time.

So, what’s next for Campeys?

Digital wise I think we are almost there and we are very happy with the results. As a company, which going digital forms an integral part of, it is our ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability.

Alongside working with Aquarius IT, we have also made significant investments over the last two years into alternative fuels, resulting in 10% of our fleet now fully operating on non-fossil fuel and bio-methane by the end of 2022.

We believe this is unprecedented for a family haulier who owns all its vehicles, and that we are leading by example. The figure would indeed also be higher if the truck manufacturers over the last 12 months had not faced production delays.

Moving forward, in terms of our environmental strategy, we have set-out a five-year plan to reduce our carbon emissions, and will continue to keep reinvesting in alternative fuels – by 2027 we aim to be running 50-75% of our fleet on alternative energies.

This strong commitment to advancing the environmental agenda in transport in the independent haulier sector, is one we think that sets us apart.

To find out more about Campeys of Selby, please visit https://campeysofselby.co.uk/ and if the points Harry has mentioned resonates with your business, get in touch with Subir