H. R. Ewell, Inc.

As a leading, regional, food-grade hauler, H.R. Ewell, Inc., moves ingredients from chocolate to vegetable oil and a veritable shopping list of other bulk liquid and dry food products across North America. The for-hire carrier employs 200 and uses TMT Fleet Maintenance software from TMW Systems. Among its operations are locations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas and Illinois along with its corporate headquarters in Lancaster County, PA, just under an hour's drive northwest from Philadelphia. H.R. Ewell was founded in 1946 and remains privately held today, currently managing 148 power units. Bringing in TMT Fleet Maintenance has been part of a master plan to reshape their business. H. R. Ewell has spent "the last four or five years ‘going green,'" said Vice President of Operations Randy Sheeler. Pursuing ecological responsibility toward the environment has opened many avenues to greater efficiency and effectiveness for the 63-year-old company. H.R. Ewell, Inc. is part of the Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay program and has begun implementing clean freight strategies like single, wide-base tires to replace traditional dual tires at all positions on tractors and trailers except for the steering tires. That move alone may improve truck energy use by up to 13%, according to one EPA report. Other non-traditional and high technology initiatives are underway. "We've tapped into a local landfill to use methane instead of propane gas. We also have what we call Project 451, which is about reducing the paper process. This led us up to the selection and use of TMT Fleet Maintenance-to further balance ourselves," Sheeler explained.

The Challenges

"Our maintenance tracking history included paper invoices held in a storage facility," said Sheeler. An employee might spend hours sorting through such files to reconstruct the work done on a single truck within the fleet, he noted with exasperation.

With six repair bays at its largest location that now run 24 hours/7 days a week across three shifts, there had to be a better way for this company to manage fleet maintenance tracking and operations.

• preventive maintenance schedules
• parts inventory
• fuel and tire usage
• mechanic hours
• billing
• warranty recovery

TMT Fleet Maintenance software is now used by the company to manage breakdowns, inspections and outside vendor work with increased visibility to costs, operations performance and much more.

The company has made Shop Planner, TMT INterActive (TINA) Mechanic Workstations and Advanced Warranty Recapture capabilities part of its maintenance software toolkit. Shop Planner coordinates and tracks repair schedules for equipment routed to company or vendor facilities, allowing management to monitor workload within the shop. TINA is an interactive task management and time collection system for the shop foreman and employees. Warranty Management is designed to increase the recovery of warranty dollars in normal maintenance operations and captures information that supports failed parts analysis, claims preparation and claims analysis.

In short order, TMT Fleet Maintenance software was put to work to automate tracking of the maintenance lifecycle. Pulling previously filed paper invoices to track down work and costs is now a thing of the past. Repair Order History reports are a standard feature, along with master parts and warranty claim reports.

"We're actually excited. From a company standpoint, we'll manage and measure productivity and provide better training. I've used TMW and TMT software for the last seven years at two different companies. There's practicability in this system for our business," said Sheeler.

"With TMT Fleet Maintenance, we expect to save $100,000 in inventory over one year. And we project a reduction of 30% in the number of tires we keep on hand," he added.

Sheeler cited the average age of trucks in the H.R. Ewell fleet at three years. "Historically, we could pull two sister tractors in for repair, go back and look at clutch jobs and warranty information and discover that on one truck we spent thousands more than on the other. Now, the software has the functionality to show just how much we are spending on each vehicle at any time."

The company also plans to increase its capture of warranty reimbursement dollars. "We will realize quite a bit of savings with time, travel and warranty work," he said.

H. R. Ewell runs full maintenance facilities that conduct periodic inspections and other mechanical services. "We do PM inspections. Our ‘C' inspections are conducted every 30 days," said Sheeler, adding, "The ‘C' inspection is a visual ‘Check Out Procedure,' almost like a safety lane. There is a 30 checkpoint list that mechanics use." Sheeler indicated that with TMT Fleet Maintenance, "our process tracks who worked on what for greater accountability."

In addition to inventory savings, H.R. Ewell expects to reduce costs overall by increasing productivity and their mechanics are on board with the plans. "TMT Fleet Maintenance was very well received. We have five mechanics with over 30 years experience each. They understand how it works, how it can work and they like it," said Sheeler.

H.R. Ewell currently has 16 new tractors on order for the year 2010. Thanks to TMT Fleet Maintenance, the company has the right system in place to keep old and new units well-serviced and on the road. "In trucking right now, ‘cash is king'. For us, it's about reinvesting in our company when most others are just cutting costs," Randy Sheeler explained. "This whole process is preparing us for the future."

"With TMT Fleet Maintenance we expect to save $100,000 in inventory over one year."
Randy Sheeler
Vice President, Operations
H. R. Ewell, Inc., East Earl, PA