Aluterr GmbH: ‘CarFleet, the safety guarantee for our employees and our vehicles’.

Aluterr is a medium-sized company based in North Rhine-Westphalia that specialises in aluminium constructions. Maxi Kmiecik, the company’s Marketing Manager, explains how the company uses CarFleet to manage its fleet.

Echoes: Can you tell us a bit about your company?

Maxi Kmiecik: Aluterr specialises in the design, construction and installation of aluminium structures: verandas, awnings, pergolas, garden houses, carports. The company was founded in 1992 and, depending on the activity, employs 20 to 25 people at two locations in the Ruhr area: our headquarters in Bottrop and our second location near the city of Bielefeld. As a family business founded by three brothers, our company has seen many changes over time. Innovation is one of the keys to our success, as are the durability and sustainability of our products. To achieve this, we rely on highly trained experts and advanced production processes.

Echoes: Can you tell us something about your fleet?

MK: We have a fleet of six commercial vehicles, including four Mercedes Sprinters and two Renault Masters, which our technicians use to travel to customer sites. Our employees also use a Citroën C5 X for taking measurements and preparing offers.

Our employees work throughout North Rhine-Westphalia and drive a lot, between 10,000 and 20,000 km per month in total. Therefore, safety is an important issue for us. We often have traffic accidents, fortunately so far they have only been minor collisions that were not serious. But in the interest of prevention, we wanted to equip ourselves with a tool to monitor and track our fleet.

Echoes: How does CarFleet help you improve the safety of your employees?

MK: First and foremost, we find it very reassuring to know where our employees are at all times. Echoes’ accident alerts also enable us to contact the technicians as soon as a problem is detected. In addition, by monitoring the fleet, we can ensure that our employees are observing their break times.

Echoes: Is security against theft also an issue for you?

MK: We know that fuel fraud by employees is becoming more and more common in Germany. CarFleet allows us to compare the diesel quantities paid for with the fuel card with the actual quantities refuelled with a single click. So far, no fraud has been reported at Aluterr, but Echoes protects us from this potential risk.

Echoes: Do you have any other uses for CarFleet?

MK: Echoes helps us to better manage the maintenance and servicing of the vehicles: by transmitting mechanical alerts and displaying warning lights on the dashboard, we can respond immediately to anomalies, engine faults or low fluid levels. We also avoid exceeding maintenance deadlines and workshop appointments. In addition, real-time monitoring of mileage helps us to avoid the penalties associated with our leasing contract.