HK United Trucks operates dump trucks for various purposes – asphalt, sand, gravel, even snow – in the Toronto, Canada area. As they expanded, they felt the need for better organization and efficiency. They needed a system that could handle growth.
In this recent interview, we spoke to them about their experience with Axon Software.
Q&A
Tell us about yourself and the company.
I’m Sarah Farooqui, accounts control manager with HK United Trucks Ltd. I’ve worked with the firm for the last five and a half years. We are located in Mississauga, Ontario. We haul asphalt, sand, and gravel in the Greater Toronto Area. We also have a snow-hauling contract with Pearson Airport.
We started using Axon software in April 2016. We were using QuickBooks before and, since we have dump trucks and all the tickets we use to bill and pay, Axon has helped us sort through that problem. Axon works through the ticketing system. We really love it. The more we use it, the more we like it.
Tell us how Axon has helped your management process.
It has made the process much easier for us. The equipment statements, the way tickets get entered. If there are any queries by the customers or by vendors, it’s very easy to find in the system.
It makes everything more organized, I must say. It has saved us a lot of time, especially for filing and going back into cabinets to find everything. This has become much easier with Axon.
We used spreadsheets and QuickBooks before. Axon is pretty nice software and it’s organized for the trucking industry.
How is productivity in the office since the change to Axon?
Since we’ve used Axon, we’ve increased our fleet by 20 trucks. We haven’t increased our staff, so we are pretty much good. It’s because Axon has eliminated the processes we used in QuickBooks – they aren’t required in Axon.
If we increase our workload by 25-30% more this year, then we might need help. Not because of Axon, but because we deal in manual paperwork a lot. That’s why we might hire one person.
Has Axon software paid for itself?
Yes. If you take it as an investment, it’s a good investment. Definitely when you are growing. When we talk about growing in this industry, we do not just grow by revenue or by sales, but also by technology. I think in that regard, Axon is the best option.
Has Axon helped with customer relations?
It has been excellent. We are able to handle the customers’ queries with any ticket-related or load information. Whatever we need to find out, it’s much easier. And the receivable reports are really self-explanatory and very quick to run.
I like the statistics tab in the customer page. You can easily find out when the last payment was received and how much they still owe us. It’s very easy to find out in Axon. While you’re on the call with a customer, you can see things on your tabs. You don’t have to shuffle around to find out or go through any reports.
How easy do you find the software to use?
It’s very easy. If a person is computer savvy, then it’s very easy to use.
At the reporting end, when we say that we need to design reports according to our requirements, we always get Axon to help us out.
I love their customer service as well, because whenever I leave them a message, they call us right back and help us out. They get connected remotely and sometimes design for us and sometimes guide us through.
If somebody in the industry asked about your experience with Axon, what would you say?
I would say that I’m glad we made the decision to switch from QuickBooks to Axon because we are no longer a very small company. We are mid-sized, as per the revenue. When you have such a big fleet, I would recommend Axon, because it has solved a lot of problems. It has saved a lot of time for us and I would recommend it highly.
