Software That Promotes Teamwork
 VIP
Transport Ltd. of Kamloops, British Columbia, operates a 40-truck
flat-deck trucking company, hauling across Canada and the US. In this recent
interview, VIP manager Rick Dunbar speaks out about Axon.
Tell us about VIP Transport.
"VIP Transport has been in business since about 1997. We started
off as a specialty hauler for the mining industry, and then we
expanded into a complete flat-deck operation, all across Canada and
the US. We have step-decks, highboys, low-beds, that kind of thing."
Tell us about your experience dealing with
Axon.
"The experience has been excellent. The response from your end
is great. The support is there when you need it. If you don't
understand something or there's a glitch, they get on it right away.
That's the thing that's really, really good about [dealing with
Axon]. Especially in our industry, because we don't have time to sit
there and play with it - let's get it fixed, you know?"
What kind of problems have you solved by using
Axon Trucking Company Software?
"We were using Simply Accounting before which was just so far
out of line for us it was ridiculous, and when we got into the Axon
system, I could see that there were going to be some big savings,
time-wise, by having everything in one program to begin with. You
can move back and forth in the system very easily and get the
information. And you can set the
driver settlements to what you want the driver to see, that sort
of stuff.
Another thing that we like about the whole thing
is that it's
integrated with PC*Miler.
The accounting end of things is very, very good.
It's all clear, like when you put something into the system, and
you're charging it to a truck, it shows up on the driver statement
the way it's supposed to. The progress, from what we were doing to
what we do now, has increased two-fold; it's really, really good
that way.
I also added the
work order system and that has helped us immensely in our shop,
and then of course, when you guys do the updates, it's helped us."
How has Axon affected the morale in the office
- the working environment?
"Way better, because everything is there, you know? The billing
people, dispatchers, the accounting people, they all have access to
find out what they need without saying, 'Hey do you remember when we
did this?", or "How did we do that?" That sort of thing. We're not
having to do that anymore because it's there at our fingertips, and
that's the name of the game."
Has Axon's trucking company software helped you maintain or improve your
customer relations?
"Yes, because when a customer used to phone us to say there's a
problem with a bill or something, you would put them on hold and run
around trying to find the bill. Well now, you can just go to your
computer screen, pull it up, and it's there. And the person that's
handling that call knows what they're looking for. They can pull it
up right away and say, "Oh yeah, you're right, that should have been
this or should have been that." So yes, it's great that way.
And again, it's time saving, because you don't
have to go root through a whole bunch of files to find a bill or
anything; you can actually pull it up right in front of you. You
couldn't do that in Simply; it was too hard."
How would you compare
Axon's customer support to what you've received from other vendors?
"Well, again, it's very, very hard to compare it because there
was no way that we ever dealt with Simply Accounting. It was just
like talking to a wall. You had to phone somebody; they'd phone you
back; and blah, blah, blah.
With Axon, if there's somebody that doesn't
understand something, I just say "Pick up that phone and talk to
[our customer service rep]. She'll explain it to you." And, if she
can't help us, she finds somebody who can. So it's been very good
that way; we're very happy with that."
How did you find the
customer training?
"Excellent. Basically, our trainer worked with our people in
Edmonton; he worked with our people in Prince George; and then he
worked with our people here. He would explain the whole system to
you and take you through the whole process. Which is way better than
just saying this is how you do it, you know. He did it so that you
understood each leg and explained why you did it. And that was
really, really helpful for our staff because they realized that this
is the way they had to do it for it to work properly."
If one of your peers in the industry asked you
about Axon, how would you describe your experience?
"Excellent. And then, I would say that, if you're a trucking
company, that's the software to have, in my opinion. I'm not shy to
say that I'm very, very pleased with it. It's the system to have in
order to progress through to what you want to do."
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