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• Road hankers must be prepared to copy global parcels carriers by adopting the internet and electronic mail if they want to win more business, according to Road Tech Computer Services' boss Derek Beevor.
"E-mail will replace fax machines as it's so fast and cheap," says Beevor.
He cites e-mail's speed as its greatest asset—not least when invoicing customers: "When the average operator produces an invoice it's written on the computer, printed out, put in an envelope and posted to the customer, who then retypes it back into a computer! E-mail allows you to send an invoice straight through to their accounting system."
Customer pressure will also force operators to increase their use of electronic communications, he predicts: "They will use the Internet to book your vehicles. The parcels carriers can now provide instant information on the progress of a consignment to a customer by the Internet, and if it's being supplied by Fedex and UPS, you're going to have to follow suit.
"The Transport industry is a service industry and you're going to have to do what your customers want," Beevor adds. "Your communication will come over the Internet."