Leading telematics and fleet management software provider, Transpoco, has announced that it has enabled Iberia to achieve significant operational savings by implementing its advanced fleet management solution on its ground support equipment in numerous airports across the airline’s Spanish network.

Following a rigorous tender process, Transpoco was selected for a proof of concept in Madrid and Barcelona on up to 200 motorised assets. As a result of proven savings and return on investment Iberia will roll out the technology on up to 1400 motorised assets across further stations throughout Spain.

The Transpoco solution will help Iberia Airport Services to manage its fleet more efficiently and reduce any misuse from daily operations.

Iberia will benefit from Transpoco’s product functionality that includes tracking and controlling motorised equipment at the various airport ramps. The system also has the potential to integrate with many other platforms within the organisation including sharing data with airport authorities to update them with live location of the Iberia fleet.

Ángel Marcos, Iberia Chief Airport Services Officer, commented, “At Iberia we are constantly striving to find new ways of innovation, maximising efficiency and providing a punctual, safe and reliable service to our customers. By integrating the Transpoco fleet management software across multiple stations in Spain we have helped to achieve this”. Ángel Marcos added, “The solution from Transpoco allows us to increase safety and performance on the ramp, being more environmentally friendly while reducing operational costs. The Transpoco system and team have been very flexible and agile in reaching the business specifications of our requirements”.

Andrew Fleury, Transpoco CEO, commented, “We are delighted to be working with a world class airline in Iberia as we have been developing our system for many years with clients now in over 60 different countries. Our specialism in the aviation industry has been recognised internationally by some of the largest companies in the world and we continue to make internal investment to expand our international client base”.

Iberia Airport Services roster of more than 170 airline clients at 29 airports in Spain. In 2018 the handling unit attended some 350.000 aircraft and more than 96 million passengers. Iberia Airport Services is distinguished by its versatility in serving all types of airlines in all types of operations, and its human and material capacity for resolving every kind of contingency.

Some 40% of Iberia’s handing unit’s ground vehicles are now 100% electric and thus emissions-free, and the substitution of older vehicles continues. The unit is certified by Spain’s AENOR standards bureau for its quality assurance and environmental protection systems, under ISO 9,001 and ISO 14,001 standards.

According to figures recently released by the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA), vehicles are the leading cause of death in Irish workplaces.

The source of the aforementioned figures is the Authority’s 2018 Annual Report, showing that there were 39 work-related fatalities reported to the HSA in 2018, compared to 48 in 2017, a decline of 19%. But the single biggest danger last year came from vehicles in the workplace, with 17 lives lost across all industries last year.

The farming sector suffered 15 work-related deaths in 2018, compared to 25 in 2017, a decline of 40%, while construction had five work-related deaths.

Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen TD, said workplace deaths cause great trauma and personal suffering for families every year. While welcoming the decline in workplace fatalities, he said: “We should remember that any improvement in numbers provides little comfort to the family, friends and colleagues of the dozens of Irish people whose lives were cut short this year while doing their job.”

Dr Sharon McGuinness, Chief Executive Officer of the HSA, said that the fatality statistics show how vehicles are now the biggest threat to life in the Irish workplace. “Whether it’s a farmer driving a tractor in a yard, or a truck driver delivering a load, across all sectors, incidents involving vehicles accounted for almost half - or 44% - of all deaths last year. The worrying trend is continuing with six deaths provisionally recorded so far this year in the transportation sector” she said.

Tractors were involved in the majority of workplace vehicle incidents last year and claimed six lives but cars, refuse trucks and forklifts were also involved in fatalities.

Expressing concern at the devastation caused by work tragedies on bereaved families, Dr McGuinness urged everyone to be aware of the risks posed by moving vehicles in all workplaces. A change in mindset is required to reduce the numbers of workers dying or suffering serious injury as a result of workplace vehicles: complacency is costing lives.

“Drivers at work often forget about the same hazards that they look out for when driving on the road, like properly maintaining their vehicles, and paying attention to pedestrians when reversing. These checks could help prevent a fatal catastrophe to themselves or a work colleague,” Dr McGuinness concluded.

We may be running short of letters to complete our A-Z series of fleet management, but never topics. Uptime, according to standard definition, is the period of time which a computer, piece of machinery, etc., is operational and available for use. It goes without saying that in the case of fleets, uptime, when specifically referring to vehicles, is one of the eternal quests of fleet managers—to make vehicles ready to perform as much as possible, as opposed to downtime, in order to maximise profits.

Fleets have only quite recently begun to abandon a type of reactive maintenance, which seemingly worked for ages, in favour of more adequate planning that involves other factors than just facilitating the transportation of material from point A to point B. This may include the consideration of the customer perspective, the need for precise quality standards and conformity and also the nature of the business producing revenue.

Now, in order to prevent a problem suddenly arising and forcing vehicles into downtime, fleets know that they have to stay ahead of the game, on the lookout for anything related to potential issues, fixing them before they actually cause a problem while the vehicle is on the road. Apart from the usual pre-trip checks or walk-around checks that are legally required, some specific checks on particularly troublesome features can be conducted with a degree of regularity to avoid issues in the long run. Another concept that has only recently been considered by fleets is the idea of having a comprehensive check after the vehicle reaches a certain threshold in terms of mileage, with the same aim of anticipating possible problems.

Technology has also started to provide the means to gather data and notify fleets regarding the perfect timing of servicing a vehicle, offering a heads-up regarding a potential malfunction or simply capturing vehicle performance in terms of fuel consumption, number of services and similar metrics to help establish the regular checks to be carried out to preserve vehicles and help prolong their uptime. The information, often given in real time, can also help establish whether the vehicle can continue on the road without risk or if it is preferable to take it off rather than waiting for the regular check. And the increased connectivity of a vehicle can, according to numbers shared by Volvo Trucks, reduce incidents of unplanned downtime by 80%.

It has been calculated by LeasePlan that the average cost of having a van off the road is between €785/£700 and €1122/£1,000 per day. Nevertheless, according to data shared by Autoglass, a substantial number of fleet managers appear to be unaware of the financial impact, with 40% of them unable to estimate the business cost of having a vehicle off the road. Those who were able to give a figure said the average cost in terms of lost business revenue was €815/£727 per day per van. No surprise then why the focus has changed in fleets in favour of a more proactive approach to maximise uptime, though it still has yet to become standard practice for some of them.

When thinking about “airport fleets”, it may for most people automatically bring to mind the bright and colourful fuselages of different aircrafts; from the impressive A380, to the A320 or Boeing 747 that we are accustomed to board for our short-haul and maybe low-cost flights for either business or leisure. But the truth is that aircrafts are not the only fleet involved in smoothly conveying us to our destinations—there are ground fleets in airports that help to make this possible.

Just like any other ground fleet based organisation, airport fleets come with a set of challenges typical of them all, plus an array of unique ones peculiar to commercial aviation. Now that we have clarified the kinds of fleets we are specifically focusing on in this post, let’s have a look at three airport fleet challenges that ground services, handling and air transport businesses tackle every day!

#1 – Managing an incredibly diverse fleet. Again, we can bring to mind a mental image of the familiar service vehicles such as cars, vans or pickups that we invariably find in the perimeter of an airport—and also the buses/shuttles that transport passengers between terminal buildings, to departure gates or to and from aircraft. But these vehicles are just a small part of the fleet operating inside an airport, on runways and ramps. Airport fleets are in fact comprised of both motorized and non-motorized assets that are all of equal importance in the task of transporting goods and people by air; that all have to be precisely located to ensure efficient and fast operations and maintained so as to guarantee swift service. Airport fleets might just about have almost every means of conveyance: think about baggage tractors, cargo tractors, cargo loaders, mobile assets, power units, trolleys, passenger steps, elevators, escalators, conveyor belts, pushback tractors...

#2 – “Phenomenal cosmic powers—in an itty-bitty living space” is no fun: this is not only Aladdin’s genie’s motto, but it’s the bread and butter of airport fleets. Aircrafts, vehicles and assets move around a limited space in a precise way to ensure timings and slots are respected, that there is no delay caused by operations on the ground and everything is obviously happening in a safe, compliant way flight after flight, after flight.

#3 – Diverse assets in a reduced space—actually, in a LOT of reduced spaces. If we consider airports as reduced perimeters and handling companies with multifarious challenges depending on how many airports they control, airport fleets have to operate in a consistent, standardised way all around the world and comply with different regulations in different markets at the same time and with different stages of development or maturity depending on the airport they work in.

Who said intelligent fleet management is just for logistics, public transportation or couriers? Transpoco's suite of SaaS tools can offer real benefits to GSE fleets, ground operations, support equipment and services. From cutting costs to assessing risks, from maintenance to compliance management, Transpoco will present all the latest innovations and updates targeting the aviation sector at the Inter Airport Europe Show 2019.

The international exhibition has this year reached its 22nd edition. The event, organised as its tagline claims, for Airport Equipment, Technology, Design & Services, is welcoming digital transformation in aviation and airport operations (so, who better than Transpoco to show how interconnected airports can work - efficiently and effortlessly?).

Manufacturers and suppliers of airport equipment will showcase their new, revolutionary products that will find different airport uses and applications, from technologies to predict passenger flow to digital service platforms for operators to access and analyse data across the airport and software solutions to enhance both safety and quality management.

We are now just 5 weeks away from this important appointment: Transpoco will exhibit at the stand number 2262 in Hall C6 from October 8-11, 2019 - come talk to us if you wish to have smoother airport operations!

The van market is currently experiencing an upsurge in the UK according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

According to the data shared by the SMMT this July, the first six months of 2019 have been particularly positive, with new registrations rising by 13.5% as well as the demand for smaller vans, which increased by 10.3%. Registrations of larger vans up to 3.5t rose by 22.2%.

But it wasn’t all upbeat for vehicle manufactures and sales: the registration of pickups and 4x4s fell by 0.7% and 21.8%, respectively.

The van/LCV market recorded a growth of 8.7% during the first six months of 2019, ahead of expectations according to the SMMT.  There were 15,722 more registrations this year in the same period, clocking up a total of 196,418 new vans.

The results published by the SMMT confirm that vans and LCVs play an extremely important role in the UK economy, especially in the urban areas; and there is no reason why these trends can’t continue in the same positive vein if a good Brexit deal can be thrashed out.

According to the SMMT sources, AFV (Alternatively Fuelled Vehicles) sales have increased dramatically—200% up on 2018 for the same month. The growing need for alternative fuelled vehicles in order to comply with emission targets whilst also providing great logistical performance and the ability to meet delivery targets seems to be the reason behind this incredible surge in sales. Getting cleaner and more fuel efficient vehicles is increasingly becoming a priority for all fleets.

We have reached the final third in our A-Z of fleet management and would really like to take the opportunity to touch on a point that is valid for every business but is particularly relevant for fleets: strategy and strategic planning.

Why do I need a strategy? Isn’t this just old-fashioned?

Sometimes—if not a good deal of the time—‘old is gold’. Having a strategy can only be beneficial for your fleet, vehicles, staff and company. Nobody can hope to succeed without a plan and then expect success just to come out of the blue. Strategic planning can not only help you formulate a roadmap for your business and fleet, including where you want it to be in 3-5 years’ time, but also help you to achieve sub-goals along the way.

Fleet strategy needs not only to help in developing operational objectives but also in identifying ‘wins’: ways to save or earn money as well as opportunities to improve.

Having a strategic plan helps you direct your fleet towards its goals through specific focus on what needs to be done, what your organisation needs to develop in order to get there, getting all the elements you need to work towards your objective and appraising your staff regarding their efforts and offering them clear direction.

What are some of the elements that need to go into a fleet strategy?

The final aim of fleet strategy is to develop fleet activity that saves time and money, reduces administrative work, and achieves the best performance while vehicles, drivers and road users stay safe, and everything is carried out according to global compliance. Fleets are complex entities and their optimisation and strategic planning embraces a lot of different aspects and ideas that need to be considered separately from just the traditional topics of managing vehicles and drivers. Here we include some of them (to mention just a few):

• The importance of having a sound fleet policy that is reviewed on a regular basis
• The identification of risks within the fleet and the sector, and the means to manage them
• The concept of duty of care and the responsibilities of the company towards vehicles, drivers, employees and road users
• Procurement and funding for fleets
• Reduction of costs (fuel, maintenance, insurance...) and best choice of resources
• Improvement of service
• Managing vehicle whole life costs, replacement and remarketing
• Developing new technologies and keeping up to date with the industry, the legislation and the environmental considerations

Which tools can help me in the successful implementation of a fleet strategy?

Involving users (drivers) in the implementation of strategy and letting them know the strategic targets and how they can contribute is an important step to successfully implement a strategy. But technology with its recording of real time data, vehicle performance, fuel consumption and costs can definitely sharpen the focus on the essentials when planning a strategy.