TNT Post, the mail division of the Dutch logistics company TNT, signed an agreement with Hiab on the servicing of its tail lifts - and found the best price for its load handling solutions.
The trademark orange colour of the logistics company TNT can be seen on the streets of more than 200 countries. In Holland, TNT has two divisions: Express delivery service takes all sizes of shipments to their destination, while Post collects and delivers letters, magazines and advertisements to recipients both domestically and internationally.
The Head Office of Holland's TNT Post is located in The Hague, the country's governing centre. The global company has 60,000 employees just in the Netherlands, most of them mail carriers. They use a total of 6,000 vehicles - bicycles, passenger cars, delivery vans and trucks, about a thousand of them equipped with ZEPRO's tail lifts, to assist them in their work.
Ron Rijswijk, the man in charge of the vehicle fleet, makes sure that the total vehicle costs are kept as low as possible.
"Competition in our sector is constantly intensifying: Other mail companies are entering Holland, and we are interested in expanding our operations to a growing number of countries. The keys to our success are customers, dedicated personnel and quality products. Quality is a priority for us in the equipment we use, from vehicles, sorting machines and uniforms, right down to the rubber bands used to bundle mail", Rijswijk says.
"In load handling solutions it is important that the equipment works and that servicing intervals and downtime are kept in check. A good brand is usually a guarantee of this. Otherwise, the total costs quickly start soaring", he continues.
TNT transports mail in roller containers that are two metres high and weigh 200 kilos when full. One delivery van can hold six containers.
"Along with reliability, we also require the tail lift to be light", Rijswijk says, explaining that the reason behind this is as practical as the tail lift itself: The weight of the vehicle must remain low enough for the mail carriers to be able to drive with a normal driving licence - the heavier the tail lift, the less payload, i.e. mail, the vehicle can carry.
TNT Post has collaborated with Zepro for so many years that no one can right away remember when the partnership began.
"But I do remember that we used to just purchase the lifts and we did our own repairs if they malfunctioned. At the beginning of 2003 we signed a servicing agreement with Hiab covering the scheduled maintenance of the 600 ZEPRO RZNH 75-90 model tail lifts we have", Rijswijk says.
Thanks to the agreement, TNT Post's tail lifts are even more reliable and down time has decreased.
"We have to rent fewer vehicles to cover the ones being repaired, and repair costs have also dropped as a result of preventive maintenance. This is what we call total cost management!" Rijswijk stresses.
"Sure it would be cheaper to have a tail lift without a servicing agreement, but you have to look at the big picture. You have to think about the best price in terms of the overall picture", he specifies.
The servicing agreement means that Hiab thoroughly services TNT Post's tail lifts twice a year. TNT has a total of 243 sites in Holland and Hiab's service trucks drive to the tail lift that is scheduled for servicing.
Repairs are not part of the servicing agreement, but TNT Post also has a good arrangement with Hiab should a problem arise. If a tail lift doesn't function properly, a TNT employee can call the headquarters of Hiab's Dutch sales company in Meppel and a service engineer from the nearest repair shop will be dispatched to the site.
"This is one-stop-shopping for us", Ron Rijswijk sums up the collaboration.
On average, three or four TNT Post tail lifts are serviced per day, but the most always fall on Mondays. Again, a practical explanation:
"Only seven per cent of our mail is from individuals, and companies usually want their letters to reach their destination by Friday at the latest. The beginning of the week is typically slower", Rijswijk says.
Noon is the best time for servicing, because TNT collects and delivers mail twice a day - the vehicles are on the road in the mornings and afternoons and the distribution centres are empty.
"Our pace of work requires some arrangements from Hiab", Rijswijk says.
Flexibility, he says, is also what will give TNT Post a competitive advantage in the future. After all, the company can get the mail to its destination even during the same day at a specific time and to a specific location.
Would the job get done without tail lifts?
"We don't need tail lifts to deliver mail", Rijswijk assures, "but we do need them to deliver the mail efficiently."