London Mayor Sadiq Khan recently detailed a series of congestion-busting measures for the city’s roads. Plans include faster repairs, lobbying government for greater powers to manage roadworks, and the use of cameras at pedestrian crossings to cut the time traffic is held at red lights. With further details to be published in spring 2017, David Williams, managing director of Rhenus Logistics UK, is hoping that plans to encourage better route planning will also feature in the long-term strategy.
“The mayor’s plans to cut congestion are vital to London’s future prosperity; I hope it is an initiative that is recognised and implemented throughout the rest of the country too. It has never been more important to address the causes of congestion.
“The measures are still some way off and I’m keenly awaiting further detail, but in the meantime, transport managers should keep route planning at the forefront of their minds to help ease congestion. It is a key area where efficiencies can be made with a little forward-thinking.
“Effective management of routes is something SMEs can struggle with due to lack of sophisticated planning technology which is not able to consider key areas such as taxes, tolls and exchange rates. We have developed a dedicated Road Tariff Calculator which uses this information to calculate the most effective route and this can result in huge savings in both time and money.
“We’ve adapted hi-tech software and it is now used as our primary quotation tool, providing a clear way for customers to receive cost calculations. The industry-leading product is updated daily and enables Rhenus to provide a standard quotation within just 30 seconds. A full written quote can be sent at the push of a button and the archiving capabilities enable easy retrieval of quotations, should a customer wish to book at a later date.
“The calculator is a constantly evolving piece of software that can be modified by Rhenus at any point to incorporate economic influences such as a change in the exchange rate, market fluctuations and daily trailer price adjustments. This ensures that customers have the benefit of gaining the most competitive rate available at the time of enquiry.
“Roads are vital to the economy, with almost three times more goods moved by roads than by water and rail combined – it is in everyone’s interest to keep HGVs moving and clients happy. If we can encourage transport managers to adopt measures that make this process easier, it is a win win for everyone.”