Founded in 1992 by Peter and Jenny Foott, FOOTT has grown into a trusted provider of waste, recycling, processing, and event solutions across regional Victoria and southern New South Wales.
Today, the company employs over 100 people under the direction of FOOTT chief executive officer Andrew Yeoland and continues to see the benefits of investing in up-to-date technology to run its operations.
FOOTT operates a diverse fleet of approximately 40 Volvo trucks ranging from 6-pallet tray trucks through to B-double tautliners – however, around 75 per cent of the fleet is comprised of kerbside waste collection side loaders, Bucher front loaders and hooklift vehicles.
Over the past three years, FOOTT has experienced exponential growth, recently commencing three new council kerbside collection contracts. The introduction of Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) has also expanded operations, with seven FOOTT trucks being allocated specifically for CDS collections across Northern Victoria.
“The size of the business has doubled in the last three years,” said Head of Logistics and Business Integration Zane Foott, who is also Peter and Jenny’s son. “I joined the business in 2016, and like all good family businesses, I’ve had a range of different roles. I started out as a driver, spent some time in sales and then went into operations, where my skillset is most suited,” he said.
“My younger brother Aidan still jokes that I was that kid always playing with trucks – I never grew out of it!”
For more than a decade, the business has relied on Procon Telematics – Transport to aid with efficiencies, integrating its Fleetlocate software across the entire heavy vehicle fleet.
More recently, FOOTT began using Procon’s ProView AI (Artificial Intelligence) cameras to streamline their waste pick-up. The ProView AI Camera Module is fully integrated with the Fleetlocate platform – so only one User Interface is required.
As Zane explained, “When the company first turned to Procon, it was solely utilised from a GPS perspective. But as we matured as a business, it sparked conversations with Procon Director, René Bueman, about how we could utilise the software from a fatigue management or maintenance perspective.
“That’s how we came across these ProView AI cameras, which we’ve been using for about nine months. The key reason we chose to implement this technology was to protect our drivers.”
Zane revealed that when residential waste collection services went from weekly to fortnightly, there was an increase in calls coming through each day from residents claiming their bin had been missed.
“We pick up about 95,000-100,000 bins a week and we were getting 50-80 calls a day about missed bins. Often what the resident had done is put more rubbish in the bin after it’s been collected. When our drivers know they’ve done the job and there’s a call saying they haven’t, they can take that quite personally. Now we can pull footage that shows our drivers were there – based on the time or GPS location.”
Zane added that incorporating the AI cameras (that allow Live View and Video Requests) has led to huge efficiency gains. “We’ve been able to knock back about 90 per cent of ‘missed bin’ calls. Not having a truck run around unnecessarily is a big efficiency gain.
“It’s also been good for morale because drivers aren’t going back to collect bins, they know they’ve emptied. Before, there was no proof.”
In the event of a road incident or closure, drivers can also quickly and easily alert others. “If our drivers go down a road and a tree is down, they can stop and flick a text with a time stamp and we can send it to the council, with a drop pin of exactly where it is.”
Along with boosting efficiency, the technology is helping to protect drivers and ensure safety. “When a road user calls and says your driver was tailgating my car, we can check the footage from our operations room without the need to go to the truck. That’s where the protection for drivers comes in. It means we can provide that evidence and back up our drivers,” said Zane.
And on the contrary if a driver is doing the wrong thing, FOOTT can address that too. “The AI tech is quite impressive. It will pick up a wide range of Safety Events, including if a driver is not wearing a seatbelt, or runs a stop sign, so in those instances we can go through that with the driver.”
Zane added that drivers have been overwhelmingly positive about the integration of the new AI camera technology in the trucks. “They’ve really taken it on board. They don’t look at it as being like ‘Big Brother’, instead they look at it as providing protection for them out on the road.
“Our trucks aren’t just travelling major highways, they’re travelling through school zones and around local streets and homes, so this tech is supporting our drivers to be responsible out there while they are working.”
With the AI camera technology now fitted to the entire kerbside fleet, there are plans to roll it out to all other vehicles in the FOOTT fleet too.
As FOOTT has continued to grow, Zane says the relationship with suppliers has become even more critical. “Over time, our relationship with Procon has become more of a partnership. They’ve taken the time to understand our business and what we’re looking for, and worked with us to help us achieve that – and that’s why we keep coming back.”
For more information on Procon, click here. Procon will also be at the Brisbane Truck Show from May 15-18.