IT providers consistently over-promise and under-deliver products to the road transport industry according to delegates at last week's MT roundtable, held in conjunction with Bunkercard. Philip Constable from Tube Lines, which runs more than 2,000 vehicles, says: "I think IT should be successful, but at times, unless you can get a one-stop shop, it's useless."
His comments were echoed by Dave Measey from Widdowson Group who adds: "Here we are in the transport industry still lagging
behind because we have not been given the product that we all want.
The systems we get are not user-friendly - the driver doesn't want to use them - and they cost a lot of money. We have invested a lot over the past ten years, initially in transport and warehousing and then bolted-on other applications.
"But because they are bolt-ons, they don't necessarily all work in harmony together." But Guy Pomroy from Truck Crane Services, part of the Canute Group, says making sure the IT system is implemented correctly is key: "If you abdicate your responsibility for implementation to someone else then don't be surprised when it doesn't work." A full report of the debate will appear in a forthcoming issue.
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