A new app has launched in the UK fleet sector, enabling companies to benefit from telematics and tracking but without hardware and without long-term contracts.
It’s dubbed Dart and has been developed by two entrepreneurs from the West Midlands, looking to use their backgrounds in software development, customer engagement and design to disrupt the fleet telematics market with a new solution.
Ben Davies and Steve Willmoth launched Dart earlier this month in response to a claimed gap in the sector for a solution that is suited to SMEs that don’t want the bulky offerings that require hardware to be fitted to vehicles and involve long-term expensive contracts.
“Our market research told us that a lot of smaller organisations, who have mobile workforces, are crying out for an effective fleet management solution that is cost-effective and easy to integrate,” explained Steve Willmoth of SWDev.
Dart, which is available on a free trial, has been designed to help companies manage jobs, optimise routes for drivers and track their workforce in real time.
It enables operators to view current location, speed and status of drivers, explore past shifts and activity and obtain delivery evidence through photos and signatures. Importantly, it also means adopters can onboard users in a matter of minutes with the user interface; no hardware is required.
Ben Davies added: “Dart gives a host of tools not only suited for tracking drivers and fleet, but also that aids in planning shifts and loads, inventory management and managing jobs.
“If you were to start a company with delivery or service deadlines tomorrow, you could run your day-to-day task management, delivery evidence and shifts inside of Dart with ease from day one.”
Cradley Heath-based Repose Furniture is the first company to sign up for Dart, replacing its previous manual systems to optimise routes and scheduling. It operates a team of six drivers that can complete up to 250 furniture deliveries and installs every week.
“Our transport manager has been very impressed with what Dart can offer, basically reducing a task that could take up to five hours to one or two clicks of a button,” said Lisa Wardley, director at Repose Furniture.
“This is just the start. When it is fully set-up, we will also use the technology to provide proof of install and give more up-to-date arrival times for the customer, not to mention ensuring the welfare of our staff as we can see in real-time how many hours they are driving.”
The team at SwDev are also working on future developments for the app including new intelligent features, many claimed to be industry firsts.
