Truck driving has become a particularly hazardous trade. Every stop along a route holds the threat that the driver and cargo could be another victim of a hijacking. Value Logistics has safe-guarded against such an incident by installing most of its 4,000 vehicles with Ctrack.

A national logistics company, Value Logistics offers services that include truck and car rental, warehousing and clearing and forwarding of products. As a result, the company relies heavily on its vehicles, which are the lifeblood of the company. "At present we are phasing out old technology that exists in our vehicles and upgrading most of the vehicles' fleet management systems with Ctrack," says Werner Kuhn, operations manager of Value Logistics. "In fact, we are so impressed with the product that we are investigating the fitment of Ctrack tracking units onto our trailers as well."

For approximately six years, Ctrack has enjoyed an affiliation with Value Logistics. The reason for this continued relationship is based on the variety of benefits that Ctrack has brought to the company.

"Through Ctrack we can effectively manage the information regarding the behaviour and route activities of our vehicles, as well as the playback facility. Even though Ctrack allows us to download the trip information ourselves, we make use of the reports that Ctrack issues to us - in the event of a power failure on our side, we can at least be assured that Ctrack is still monitoring our fleet," says Kuhn. "Another unique feature of the Ctrack system is the hi-jacking panic signal that drivers can send to our control centre."

This panic button has been used frequently. Trucks and their loads have become very potent magnets for hijackers and Value Logistics is no exception. However, thanks to the masterful Ctrack, Kuhn reports that all of the vehicles and trailers have been fully recovered.

"Due to the prompt response to the panic signal, the vehicles and the cargo have been recovered," says Kuhn.

Many companies report that, due to the surveillance nature of Ctrack, truck drivers are not exactly jumping with joy at its presence in the vehicles. The exact opposite is true for the drivers at Value Logistics. "Our drivers recognise that Ctrack is not a policing tool for us to use against them; if anything, it's there to assist them.

"When drivers come back from a trip and we download the trip information, we can then see if the agreed standards of driving technique have been properly followed. One example is: when a driver who arrived late reported that there was a particular stretch of road where the mist was very dense.

"By looking through the journey information, we found that the driver had slowed down considerably and made an excessive number of stops during that particular time. As a result, the information gleaned from Ctrack was able to support the driver's case."

Truck driving has become a particularly hazardous trade. Every stop along a route holds the threat that the driver and cargo could be another victim of a hijacking. Value Logistics has safe-guarded against such an incident by installing most of its 4,000 vehicles with Ctrack.

A national logistics company, Value Logistics offers services that include truck and car rental, warehousing and clearing and forwarding of products. As a result, the company relies heavily on its vehicles, which are the lifeblood of the company. "At present we are phasing out old technology that exists in our vehicles and upgrading most of the vehicles' fleet management systems with Ctrack," says Werner Kuhn, operations manager of Value Logistics. "In fact, we are so impressed with the product that we are investigating the fitment of Ctrack tracking units onto our trailers as well."

For approximately six years, Ctrack has enjoyed an affiliation with Value Logistics. The reason for this continued relationship is based on the variety of benefits that Ctrack has brought to the company.

"Through Ctrack we can effectively manage the information regarding the behaviour and route activities of our vehicles, as well as the playback facility. Even though Ctrack allows us to download the trip information ourselves, we make use of the reports that Ctrack issues to us - in the event of a power failure on our side, we can at least be assured that Ctrack is still monitoring our fleet," says Kuhn. "Another unique feature of the Ctrack system is the hi-jacking panic signal that drivers can send to our control centre."

This panic button has been used frequently. Trucks and their loads have become very potent magnets for hijackers and Value Logistics is no exception. However, thanks to the masterful Ctrack, Kuhn reports that all of the vehicles and trailers have been fully recovered.

"Due to the prompt response to the panic signal, the vehicles and the cargo have been recovered," says Kuhn.

Many companies report that, due to the surveillance nature of Ctrack, truck drivers are not exactly jumping with joy at its presence in the vehicles. The exact opposite is true for the drivers at Value Logistics. "Our drivers recognise that Ctrack is not a policing tool for us to use against them; if anything, it's there to assist them.

"When drivers come back from a trip and we download the trip information, we can then see if the agreed standards of driving technique have been properly followed. One example is: when a driver who arrived late reported that there was a particular stretch of road where the mist was very dense.

"By looking through the journey information, we found that the driver had slowed down considerably and made an excessive number of stops during that particular time. As a result, the information gleaned from Ctrack was able to support the driver's case."