C&W Mechanical

ABOUT C&W MECHANICAL

C&W Mechanical is the repair arm of C&W Global Trucking Company, serving all kinds of trucks and trailers. C&W Mechanical got its start in 2008, when a slowing economy led C&W Global to open its repair branch to outside fleets. Today, they have four locations (one devoted solely to C&W Trucking fleet vehicles) and serve Central and Northeast Florida.

WHAT C&W MECHANICAL NEEDED

Business Manager Kyle Creeden reports that C&W Mechanical’s previous system was more or less designed for trucking companies, not repair work. It worked fine in that capacity, but it wasn’t great at tracking parts, and users ended up resorting to pen and paper to track actual maintenance. C&W Mechanical needed a software that could help them keep track of everything they did, from anywhere, which made Fullbay’s cloud-based existence especially appealing.

CHALLENGE #1 INVOICING

When a truck came into the shop, techs would manually write down their diagnosis, how they handled it, and what parts they needed. With multiple people touching each job, this could quickly start taking up a lot of time. C&W Mechanical also had an entirely separate staff position to enter that information into their software and then enter it into QuickBooks to get invoicing done. If they couldn’t read the writing or a part number, they’d lose time.

Inaccurate notes led to inaccurate invoicing, inconsistent DOT inspections, and a worsening safety score.

CHALLENGE #2 MAINTENANCE TRACKING & DOT INSPECTIONS

Anyone who’s tried cobbling together a truck’s repair history without proper software knows it can be a chore. Rather than track maintenance, Kyle says, they simply treated symptoms as they appeared. “We just kept throwing money at trucks,” Kyle recalls. “We didn’t know how much money we were putting in them between labor and parts.”

This was particularly true when it came to DOT inspections, which they performed for the C&W Global fleet. C&W Mechanical filled out DOT inspections on two-leaf carbon copy paper. “A guy would sit there and manually fill out the paperwork,” Kyle says. “[He would have to] manually check off the boxes … one piece would go in the truck, and one in the office.”

CHALLENGE #3 PARTS & INVENTORY TRACKING

C&W Mechanical kept their inventory in a spreadsheet, but making sure it was always accurate quickly turned into a chore no one wanted to undertake. It was also entirely too easy to make a mistake; all it took was reading one number wrong to throw off, well, everything. As a result, the inventory room was always disorganized. Some parts sat on the shelves entirely too long. Gaskets dried out, other parts flat out deteriorated in value, and overall the company was losing money on its stockroom.

ENTER FULLBAY

Fullbay lives in the cloud, which instantly piqued the interest of those who would be using it – could they really check in on things from anywhere, and keep each other up to date? Since it automatically ported work orders into QuickBooks, it would save everyone a ton of time during invoicing.

CLEAR ORDERS & FASTER INVOICING

“The guys are saving close to 45 minutes a day … instead of having to stop and write everything down,” Kyle reports. The techs can type faster than write by hand, and Fullbay’s work orders allow them to add more details around each job. The result is a comprehensive work order in less than half the time it would take before – and once it’s done, it converts quickly into an invoice.

Think of it this way. Fullbay helped C&W Mechanical cut down on so much data entry, they were able to eliminate a full position based around that.

“From the fleet side, Fullbay has been able to help us lower the maintenance cost, and also make us a safer fleet. We’ve been able to get our score lower to go after new business.”

A SAFER FLEET

Tracking maintenance became a lot easier. Because Fullbay tracks what parts you install, C&W Mechanical knows exactly how much mileage they can expect out of everything they use. This means they can tailor their services to each individual truck. “Instead of prematurely changing air filters or prematurely changing oil, we are able to get the full extent out of the products,” Kyle reports.

With Fullbay, C&W Mechanical can fill out DOT inspections with the click of a button. They can print off the inspection sheet when they’re done, and the truck driver has a clean, fully typed document at all times. “When you hand that to an officer, he has more faith in that than a handwritten piece of paper,” Kyle says. “If the driver happens to misplace the paper and the driver gets pulled over, we are immediately able to email or photo text a copy of that inspection to the officer or the driver.”

“Before Fullbay, we had someone that would have to enter the invoices manually and enter the job cards manually. Now, we are able to receive the invoice in Fullbay and then have it flow over into QuickBooks.”

C&W Mechanical has dropped their vehicle maintenance score by over 50 points since adopting Fullbay. As you probably know, a lot of companies look intently at maintenance scores – the lower it is, the safer you are.

They’ve also stepped up their inspection game. DOTs usually occur every 12 months, but C&W Mechanical gets their fleet in every six months to be more proactive about potential safety issues.

BETTER PARTS TRACKING

Gone are the days of tracking inventory in a not-often-updated spreadsheet. Since starting with Fullbay, C&W Mechanical has managed to deplete $50,000 in inventory.

They’re ordering things as they need them as opposed to ordering in bulk and hoping they can find a use for extra parts.

“Our inventory picture is a lot clearer now,” Kyle says. “We are able to budget, we are able to see items that do not move. As a fleet, when we don’t run this make/model of truck anymore, we are able to deplete that inventory and dissolve it.”

“[Because of Fullbay] our fleet is running cleaner. The maintenance is tighter so we don’t have the downtime and when the maintenance is tighter, the truck is safer.“

ONWARD AND UPWARD

Since adopting Fullbay, C&W Mechanical has used their improved maintenance score to secure new business – critical for any company to continue to grow. With a tidy stockroom, money saved, and an easier way to track maintenance and DOT inspections, the sky’s the limit for C&W Mechanical. We’re looking forward to watching them soar!