35 Scania OnBoard systems for Continental Express

All fitment and training related to this order has been carried out by Scania (Great Britain) Limited's specialist in-house Scania OnBoard team.

"Twenty-two of our trucks run internationally, mainly to and from southern Spain and Holland, while the remaining 13 are on dedicated national deliveries of fresh, chilled and ambient produce to supermarkets and the food service sector around the UK.  It's an intensive, complex operation that demands the utmost in terms of reliability, performance and vehicle and driver management," says Continental Express' Operations Manager, Mark Ayres.

"That's why we operate Scania vehicles and have backed that investment with Scania OnBoard.  Before doing so, we carefully researched the market, but were unable to find any other system which offers the complete range of information Scania OnBoard provides – effectively we can see everything that's on the dashboard and more."

As a management-aid designed to help fleet operators run their fleets more effectively, Scania OnBoard focuses on providing information in a clear and easy-to-interpret manner.  To achieve this, the system is based around three key core elements:

• Messaging to link a vehicle with its operating base.

• OPS, standing for Order Process Support, to monitor vehicles and their jobs.

• Driver Log to record driver-activity.

From the driver's perspective, Scania OnBoard is represented by a dashboard mounted touch-screen through which messages are received from, and made to, the operating base.  In addition to simple text messages, the driver responds to job scheduling instructions from his operating base by way of the touch screen.  To ensure safety in operation at all times, the touch screen can only be used when the vehicle is stationary.

The fleet manager can access the three core Scania OnBoard services from any internet-enabled computer via the secure Scania OnBoard Portal.  From here he can communicate with his vehicles by text messages or through OPS, which allows him to schedule, track and manage vehicles and jobs in real-time.  OPS is an intuitive system which displays its information through a series of clear and easy-to-interpret screens.

Driver Log offers the fleet manager a broad range of driver-activity information.  From basic drivers' hours monitoring in accordance with the Working Time Directive to monitoring factors such as idle time and harsh braking, Driver Log is a bespoke product which can be customised to meet the demands of any given business.  As with OPS, Driver Log provides the fleet manager with a series of clear and simple reports.