Bestrane at MEGATRANS

Bestrane’s David Sanders and Adam Welch discuss the logistics problem-solver’s exhibit at MEGATRANS2022 and what visitors will see there, from showing off Bestrane’s technology partners to racing simulators – and maybe even slot cars.

On 24-26 August MEGATRANS2022 will take place in Melbourne. 

It is, says Adam Welch, Practice Manager – Assurance at Bestrane, an opportunity for Bestrane to meet new people, discuss and demonstrate its new solutions and partnerships, “and let people know not only that Bestrane is still here after COVID, but that we’re stronger than ever.”

Adam and David Sanders, Owner and Managing Director of Bestrane, will have a stand at MEGATRANS where they – together with their Bestrane colleagues and some of their provider partners – will show off their suite of solutions for facing contemporary industry challenges. 

“MEGATRANS has a real technology flavour to it, and as a technologies integrator and solutions provider we want to be right in among the foot-fall and meeting new people looking for tech-savvy solutions,” Adam says. 

“DELIVERING SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEX LOGISTICS PROBLEMS”

So runs the new Bestrane motto. Indeed, Bestrane continues to expand its scope and has a new company logo to boot. 

“Our primary objective for MEGATRANS is really to reinforce our brand, our new look, our suite of offerings, and to show why and how we really can deliver on our new tagline,” David says. “Despite our success, we don’t want to rest on our laurels. People might simply see the name ‘Bestrane’ and think, ‘That’s a funny name – I wonder what they do?’ That’s what we want at MEGATRANS – for people to discover the unique personality and talents of the team behind the quirky name.” 

SPOTLIGHTING ASSURANCE 

“Given the particular audience at MEGATRANS – how it cuts across not only supply chain but supply chain-adjacent industries – something that will be very relevant for attendees is to explore our Fleet Assurance practice,” David says. 

Telematics, he notes, is of course nothing new. But while many telematics solutions providers focus on vehicle and delivery planning – how the delivery has gone, when it arrived, proof of delivery – David notes that many other solutions providers miss a crucial element. 

“Something we’re very big on, that others often overlook, is the Fleet Assurance side of things,” he says. “Not only telematics for vehicle planning, but ensuring we ask another set of questions: ‘Was the delivery done in a compliant manner?’ ‘What about Chain of Responsibility (CoR) obligations?’ and ‘Has the safety dimension been properly factored in?’

“A lot of people skip over such questions, and it makes a big difference to the protocols and technologies clients choose to deploy. At Bestrane we are not interested in being just box movers. Our model is a lot more high-touch and multifaceted.” 

SPOTLIGHTING BESTRANE’S PARTNERS

Because Bestrane is a reseller and bespoke technology solutions provider, it’s vital that they show off their range of technology partners. Bestrane may put the pieces together in novel ways, but having the right pieces is crucial, Adam says. 

“Take our Assurance Services as an example – we combine technology from various providers that we know and trust to come up with a tailored solution,” he says. “Using Geotab Marketplace – factoring in things like the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) and OH&S requirements – we provide a platform and a group of solutions that allows an organisation to satisfy its stakeholders, internal and external, that everything is being done in a compliant manner.

“We start with telematics: managing driver behaviours and fatigue. For this we might use Step Global’s Smart eDriver, which is an electronic work diary that is NHVR-approved. Then we might incorporate a Surfsight camera from Lytx, which is a dashcam plus driver distraction-measurement tool. For maintaining vehicle standards and maintenance we’ll utilise Gearbox – so we’ll know whether the vehicle is being maintained, whether faults are registered as they occur, whether drivers are performing pre-start inspections, and≈so on.” 

These are to name only a few Bestrane’s many carefully chosen technology partners. But there’s one name that David and Adam are keen to highlight at MEGATRANS, a new solution partner called Fleetyr. 

“Fleetyr is a solution that takes all of the data from all these things and turns them into a fleet management dashboard suite,” Adam adds. 

While the Bestrane-Fleetyr relationship is in its early stages, it’s an exciting development. “Where Fleetyr will bring real value to our customers is by providing a dashboard suite through which you can see the bigger picture and the finer details, connecting up your data sources and getting incredibly helpful visualisations,” David says. 

Bestrane’s stand at MEGATRANS2022 will show off not only partner solutions, but the partners themselves, with representatives from Fleetyr and Geotab mixing with the Bestrane team. 

“We have strong partnerships, and it’s terrific that Geotab and Fleetyr will be joining us at our stand to talk attendees through their side of our solutions offering,” Adam says. “We want to demonstrate the strength of our partner ecosystem – because that ecosystem undergirds our strength as solutions integrators and problem solvers. So, in addition to Geotab and Fleetyr, expect to see us spotlighting partners like Lytx, Step Global, and Descartes, too.”

AT MEGATRANS: THE BESTRANE EXHIBIT 

As of this writing, final arrangements for the Bestrane stand are not set in stone. But Adam says they have landed on some fun way to show their wares in action: think simulation, think competitiveness, think fun! More will be revealed as we get closer to the event.

“We will mock up experiences with some of our technologies like Surfsight cameras and some form of telematics, then we’ll use Fleetyr’s dashboard capabilities to demonstrate things like fastest, safest, most efficient, etc. – those types of things,” he says. “We might even use dashboard cameras while people are “playing”, to monitor their facial expressions, which is one aspect of driver-behaviour and -fatigue monitoring.

“The Fleetyr team are even threatening to bring “interactive entertainment”, for an interactive demonstration with key analytics displayed on TV screens. 

“A lot of stands at industry events can look all the same. We don’t plan on being anything like anyone else.”

But it won’t just be fun and games at the Bestrane stand. As David points out, there is a serious side to all this playing. 

“Focusing on the Assurance side of things, such demonstrations will show that there’s no getting away from what happens on the road. So, while we’re having a bit of fun– the idea is to make the technology real. Things will probably happen in our demonstrations that would happen in real life: the camera falling off the “dash” – that will happen in real life; or someone not wanting to be filmed – again, not hard to imagine in real life.

“We hope our stand is illustrative of the particular brand we’re trying to run. Yes, there’s a lot of technology, which is nice. But it’s got to fit into a business process, and it’s got to work day-to-day. That’s why Bestrane doesn’t want to sell you a solution and disappear. We want to come along for the ride. And we hope lots of people join our ride, too – at MEGATRANS.”

For more information on Bestrane, click here.