Carol and Douglas Dawson Jnr talk about how technology has helped to advance their firm and support their drivers.
W & D Dawson are a small family-run haulier based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The company was established in 1974 and began with just a singular rigid, over their years in service the company has managed to expand their fleet to contain 11 Artics and 1 rigid vehicle. The company predominantly works in the agricultural sector, supporting farmers by moving grain, fertiliser and animal feed. As a family-run business, W & D Dawson pride themselves on providing a quality, reliable service. To support these core values, the company recently introduced a Transport Management System into their business. Now we sit down with husband and wife, Douglas Jnr and Carol Dawson to discuss their roles and why they chose to adapt to new technology rather than continue to work with paper.
HaulTech: Can you tell us about your roles at W & D Dawson?
Douglas Jnr: I manage the day-to-day workload for our drivers. So I will take the work as it comes in and assign it to the applicable driver. When we hit busy periods I also have to step in and do some driving to support the team with the amount of work that comes in.
Carol: I am the I.T. expert for the company and the main driver to introduce a transport system into the business.
HaulTech: Why did you think it was necessary to introduce a transport system?
Carol: We used to work in pen and paper and I really wanted to move towards a digital way of working so we could be more efficient and improve job visibility. Now we have the system it doesn’t take Doug as long to do the jobs which is great because when he is on the road he doesn’t have much spare time and this reduces the stress. It also means we can see when drivers have completed jobs and move on to the invoicing stage faster.
HaulTech: So would you say you made the right move by introducing software into your business?
Douglas Jnr: Absolutely! Originally it takes some getting used to and does require some time to get set up but once up and running everything is so quick and easier. It’s definitely simpler than working with a large amount of paperwork! We don’t need to re-type anything, we literally put the information in once, send it to the drivers and invoice it without having to duplicate anything.
HaulTech: How do the drivers find this new way of working?
Douglas Jnr: At the minute we are phasing the driver app into our business, similar to the system the drivers think it takes some getting used to but after that initial shock they’ve found the app so easy to use and all the feedback has been positive. Because of the feedback, we are going to fully implement the apps across the business.
HaulTech: Would you recommend the system to other companies?
Carol: Yes the system is great for our business model and HaulTech are very supportive throughout the whole process. If you are willing to embrace the technology, input the detail and keep it up to date then the HaulTech software will work very well for any business.
If you are similar to W & D Dawson and want to relieve some pressure and adapt to a better way of working then contact us today by clicking here, calling 01782 662244 or saying hello@haultech.co.uk.
