Universal Tankers thanks Mandata for supporting its growth and success

“Using Mandata, allows visibility to be as clear as it can be. We can split work between north and south of the UK, that can then be sorted easily into postcodes, addresses and customers, so we can plan the work efficiently.

Matthew Tanfield, Operations Director

Teesside-based Universal Tankers says the company wouldn’t have expanded to the size it is today, without Mandata.

The vacuum tanker operator based in Stockton-on-Tees, which specialises in waste-water removal and water delivery, operates a fleet of 85 vehicles from 22 depots throughout England and Scotland, supported by an integrated suite of transport management solutions from its software partner Mandata.

Universal started its transition from paper to a computerised transport management system ten years ago, as it looked to streamline operations, driver workflow and communications, and accounts.

Matthew Tanfield, Operations Director explains: “When we first introduced the Mandata TMS, we went from paper to using computer and it was ground-breaking at the time.  We’ve now moved on to using the Manifests app on handheld tablets, Mandata’s tracking systems with driver behaviour, as well as vehicle defect reports.  This gives us full transparency, from planning the job through to invoicing.”

The company has grown rapidly since then when it was carrying out 50 jobs per day with 10 trucks. Now, they’re doing over 500 jobs per day.

The traffic team at Universal can plan work in numerous different ways with Mandata, depending on the needs of the customer.  The TMS not only enables work to be planned efficiently to get the most from their fleet, but it also keeps everyone informed once work is underway.

“Using Mandata, allows visibility to be as clear as it can be. We can split work between north and south of the UK, that can then be sorted easily into postcodes, addresses and customers, so we can plan the work efficiently.” said Matthew.

“Once the truck is on the road and the work has been sent to the driver’s Manifests app, we can keep track of them with our tracking system and hand-held tablets using the Manifests app.  Then, when a job is signed off onsite, the office is notified. That’s followed up with a signature on a waste transfer note or POD with a photograph of the job instantaneously,” Matthew explains.

“One of the main benefits is we’ve reduced time we spend on the phone to drivers. This is time we can spend elsewhere, whether it’s planning the next day or even looking for more work.”

Matthew Tanfield, Operations Director

In fact, Matthew Tanfield believes some of the biggest improvements made have been with mobile technology.

“When it comes to driver visibility and them receiving their work, once the work is planned on an afternoon or evening, drivers can receive that work within a couple of minutes to their tablet and handheld device.”

As the industry is reactive and additional jobs are received throughout the day, the TMS is enabling Universal to respond quickly to customers, Matthew explains: “When drivers are out on the road and additional jobs come in, they can be uploaded easily and with drivers within minutes. This allows us to be far more responsive and get urgent jobs done quickly for our customers, which they appreciate.”

Nicola Walton, the firm’s Senior Accounts Administrator says the TMS is also helping from an admin and accounts point of view. “Before we implemented Mandata, we literally had to type out every invoice we created using a book, going into our accounts package and creating, saving, printing and posting each one.”

“For fifty jobs a day, that would take us around two days. Invoicing is now taking an hour maximum, from running a report, to sending an invoice out to customers, and that’s with ten times as many jobs!”

Nicola Walton, Senior Accounts Administrator

“The best part of the system from an accounting point of view is everything is automatic and saves a lot of time.  We really appreciate being able to cross-check between our TMS and accounts system. The integration is so good that it saves a lot of time and effort, which in turn means we can get on and do other parts of our job more efficiently,” said Nicola.

In summarising, Matthew says they mostly appreciate the amount of time the system is saving. From planning a day’s work, to sorting jobs into areas, all the way through to invoicing and PODs.

“Our PODs can be sent automatically the day after to our customers, and that saves probably 2 to 3 hours a day from where it used to be.  We’re doing 500 jobs a day, that’s 500 PODs and it needs to be automatic and streamlined.”

Matthew Tanfield, Operations Director