Fuel Economy in Haulage The importance of fuel economy to the successful operation of a trucking company cannot be understated. Fuel is one of the largest variable costs in a trucking venture, and, while no trucking operation can control the cost of fuel, it has at least some control over the amount or rate of consumption which in turn determines […]
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THE AGE OF INTELLIGENT ‘DRIVERLESS’ TRUCK BECKONS
We’ve had intelligent unmanned cars, planes, carriages, shuttles and what have you. But not so much about Intelligent trucks until probably now! The line between reality and science fiction is about to shrink further as the age of autopilot intelligent trucks creeps in much closer than ever. And who else to take this paradigm shift to a whole new level […]
Continue reading »FLEET MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS AND VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM: ANY DIFFERENCE?
Fleet Management Solution and Vehicle Tracking System: Not a few have come to see both terms as two sides of the same coin. Some in fact believe that they are same in value proposition and only different in semantics. The latter probably explains why it is convenient to pass of a comprehensive insurance proposal incorporating a vehicle tracking system as […]
Continue reading »DEPLOYING FLEET MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS: NIGERIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN PERSPECTIVE (PART TWO)
Offline or Out-of-Coverage Storage of Trip Information: In view of the level of development of our communication backbone which is not yet at per with what obtains in the economies from where most of these packages originally come from, it is of uppermost importance that critical questions be asked about the options available for data capture, logging and access and […]
Continue reading »DEPLOYING FLEET MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS: NIGERIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN PERSPECTIVE (PART ONE)
Under the “telematics” umbrella is the integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, computers and mobile devices. The successful coupling of telematics and GPS technology has opened the door to a wide range of beneficial new features that has further expanded the frontier of possibilities in fleet management. At the click of the cursor, you can get information about the […]
Continue reading »FRSC’S RSRTT POLICY GUIDELINES/REQUIREMENTS (PART TWO)
FRSC REGISTRATION NUMBER 7.0. FRSC Registration Number serves as a unique identity for Tanker/Trailer Transport Operators, for collating information and monitoring of the company’s safety compliant records. Appraisals will be made periodically during compliance assessment reviews, crash investigations and facility inspections. NEW-ENTRANT PROGRAMME 8.0. First-time Articulated lorries (Tankers/Trailers) operators/applicants for FRSC Registration Number shall be automatically enrolled in […]
Continue reading »UNDERSTANDING FLEET TELEMATICS
In our article on “Fleet Management Solution and Vehicle Tracking System”, we mentioned the word fleet and vehicle telematics in a number of places. As promised, this article will shed more light on what telematics is all about and how/why it has attained a position of preeminence in fleet management generally and haulage operations in particular. Telematics is literally a […]
Continue reading »SECUREMENT PROCEDURE FOR INTERMODAL CONTAINERS
In this write-up, we will consider some approaches to securing an intermodal container to semitrailers. Please note that for a consideration of how to handle the securement of articles of cargo contained in a container, our discussion on general securement principles will suffice (You may want to read our piece on ‘Securement of Cargo’). Securing Loaded Intermodal Containers on Container […]
Continue reading »FRSC’S RSRTT POLICY GUIDELINES/REQUIREMENTS (PART ONE)
PROLOGUE Not too long ago, 1st of July 2010 to be specific, a comprehensive guideline and requirements for the registration and safe operation of articulated trucks (including tanker and trailers) was rolled out by the Federal Road Safety Corps of Nigeria. Recently, our crew was privileged to be at a recent training workshop for some haulage practitioners. It was however […]
Continue reading »STRATEGIES FOR SAFELY TRANSPORTING CARGO (PART TWO)
Cargo Needing Special Attention Dry Bulk Dry bulk tanks require special care because they have a high center of gravity, and the load can shift. Be extremely cautious (slow and careful) going around curves and making sharp turns. Hanging Meat Hanging meat (suspended beef, pork, lamb) in a refrigerated truck can be a very unstable load with a high center […]
Continue reading »STRATEGIES FOR SAFELY TRANSPORTING CARGO (PART ONE)
INTRODUCTION Leaning heavily on the Best Standard Practices for transporting cargo as it obtains in many advanced countries of Europe and States of America where the fear of the law is the beginning of wisdom and where impunity and gross disregard for safety standards have been committed to the dustbin of history, we hereby present to you some of the […]
Continue reading »BACKLOADING: GOOD OR BAD? (PART THREE)
HOW TO OBTAIN BACKLOADS Within the context of Nigeria, several yet untapped opportunities abound for any company interested in finding backloads for empty or partially laden return journeys. Operators can maximise the utilisation of returning vehicles by developing or becoming part of a business partnership that shares knowledge of load and vehicle locations, thus enabling them to be matched. General […]
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