JAIX Software has Enabled Hi-Trans to Grow

National carrier Hi-Trans Express has grown to more than 10 times the size it was in 1990, assisted by automated freight management systems developed by JAIX Software.

Adelaide-based Hi-Trans, which operates more than 200 registered units throughout every mainland state of Australia and employs more than 200 employees, has used information technology to gain an edge in the fiercely competitive transport industry.

"JAIX Software has allowed us to grow heaps" -John Dow Hi-Trans Express managing director and shareholder John Dow said technology was a vital element in the company's success. "It means we are able to offer services we never offered before. Early on, we just carried freight for other companies, so there was just one freight note - one piece of paper - for each load. Now we have our own freight and manage well over 1000 consignment notes in different destinations from every state every day.

"JAIX Software has allowed us to grow the business like this."

Long-Standing Partners in Success

The company's 80 trucks cover more than 9.2 million kilometres a year, fulfilling more than 350,000 consignment notes and delivering in excess of 360,000 tonnes of freight annually.

Hi-Trans, which began introducing computers to its operations in 1989, was the first company to purchase the FreightLink software from JAIX, which commenced operations that year. Until that time, Hi-Trans, like all its competitors, had to send its consignment notes to an accounting firm for consolidation as a statement, a time-consuming and expensive process that made it almost impossible to match consignment notes to the job level.

Mr Dow said Hi-Trans expansion would have been impossible without computers. "It would have been too much out of our reach," he said. "To do what we now do back then, we would have needed 60 people in our accounting area, which is not sustainable. The transport industry has become very efficient in the past 10 to 15 years, so we have to be thriftier, doing more with less."

Self-Service Improves Customer Service

Hi-Trans installed JAIX software into each of its interstate branches in the 1990s, with weekly linkups, to allow record matching and reconciliation. The entire system went live in real-time in February 2001. In 2003, Hi-Trans introduced customer self-service via the Web, which allows its customers to use a browser to query the status of their deliveries, at any time of the day or night.

Mr Dow said self-service inquiries had really helped Hi-Trans customers. "Since we have gone online with customers, we have had to open up our business systems," he said. "They can see whether we've picked up a consignment, if it's in our freight depot, if it's on delivery and when it was delivered with a Proof of Delivery image available, so there's no pretending.

"It has also stopped them ringing us to find out where their freight is because they can see for themselves. They've got DIY freight queries. They can even see how much they get charged for it."

Proof Of Delivery - The Biggest Surprise

"The scanning system allowed us to match the POD to the consignment note for the invoice, which picked up even these minor errors." -John Dow Mr Dow said Hi-Trans' accountability went right down to the fact that customers could see a POD (Proof Of Delivery) image.

"Scanning POD images is proving to be a bigger saving than what we imagined it would be," he said.

"Before we introduced that in 1998, we had to go and manually find a consignment note, then photocopy it and then fax it or mail it to the customer. Now we just email it. With the volume of consignment notes that we process, it is a huge saving. The level of saving was a real surprise."

Mr Dow said the introduction of POD scanning, at a time when branches only linked up once a week, had also introduced an extra bonus. "After POD scanning started, we found we had some consignment notes that were not being invoiced out and a small number that were not even in the computer," he said.

If you can't supply the service, you ain't got the freight

Mr Dow said success in the transport industry was a simple proposition: " If you can't supply the service, you ain't got the freight," he said.

"It all comes down to the systems and services you supply to customers. What locks customers in is the ability to supply the whole package.

"The experience JAIX has in the transport industry makes all the difference. They understand how we operate. They speak our language. They know our industry. They have been able to build systems that meet the needs of our customers.

"JAIX software has opened up the opportunity for more growth. It has enhanced and updated our systems so we can offer better service to our customers."