Alan Johns, Inframax Construction Transport Advisor, shares how the company’s partnership with Fleetwise has streamlined its fleet disposal to maximise returns on retired vehicles.
Inframax Construction Ltd is a 100% New Zealand-owned civil construction company specialising in road construction, road maintenance, earthworks, drainage, quarry operations, sealing, surfacing and road marking.
With an increasing backlog of assets requiring attention and no dedicated plant manager to oversee sale or disposal, Inframax was left with a yard full of deteriorating vehicles that were quickly losing value. That is until the company started using Fleetwise.
We talked with Inframax Construction’s Transport Consultant, Alan Johns, about the company’s partnership with Fleetwise and how we’ve helped them go from “cluttered chaos to efficiency and organisation.”
Depreciating vehicles taking up valuable space
Before Fleetwise, Inframax didn’t have a set process for asset disposal. Most of the time, the retired vehicle was parked at the company’s home base in Te Kuiti and simply left there. With no dedicated plant manager focused on asset disposal, the retired vehicles were falling into disrepair, and very few were disposed of.
Not only were the vehicles taking up precious space, but Inframax knew the longer it left them, the less value they had – and not selling the assets was a missed opportunity.
Alan has worked in fleet management for 35+ years. When he was tasked with Inframax’s fleet management, one of his first goals was to find a better, more efficient system for fleet sale and disposal.
Fleetwise: collaborative, agile and effective
Through a previous role, Alan was already familiar with Fleetwise’s expertise in fleet disposal. So, it didn’t take long for Inframax to bring Fleetwise on board.
Alan says that from the start, the company’s partnership with Fleetwise has been “super adaptable.”
“There’s no set schedule. When we have some items to sell or dispose of, we tell them how quickly we need the vehicles sold.”
That flexibility and responsiveness means Inframax can reclaim the most value from its old vehicles and avoid clogging up the plant with retired assets.
“Now, when we replace an item at the plant – a truck or anything – we prepare the old unit to be sold immediately,” says Alan.
Simple, streamlined process
Alan says one of the best parts of working with Fleetwise is how easy it is to prep a vehicle for sale.
“They’re always prompt – they come straight away to measure up the assets, assess them and take photos,” he says.
Once a vehicle is sold, Fleetwise manages the handover process too.
“It’s a smooth transition to the new owner, and it all happens in two days,” says Alan.
A profitable partnership
As a Registered Motor Vehicle Trader, Fleetwise offers an alternative sales channel to traditional wholesale auctions, and Inframax has witnessed first-hand how this helps secure optimal prices for its retired vehicles.
“There’s no way we could get the same high price Fleetwise achieves,” says Alan.
“They have a broad base, and they’re a preferred supplier. Many of their customers wouldn’t see your listing if you put it on privately.”
It’s a win-win: streamlined, profitable vehicle disposal
Now that Inframax is working with Fleetwise, the once-cluttered yard is clear and organised, and it’s getting a great return on its end-of-life assets.
“The yard’s transformation is incredible – it’s gone from cluttered chaos to efficiency and organisation.”
Furthermore, Inframax can allocate resources towards other core business activities, which allows it to pursue growth opportunities and strategic initiatives.
Alan is retiring shortly and has handed over the reins to someone else. He says Fleetwise made that transition easy, too.
“The transition was super straightforward because Fleetwise makes it uncomplicated and easy to work with them,” says Alan.“I’d recommend Fleetwise to anyone wanting to make their fleet management more efficient and profitable.”