TCO rather than gut feeling: what fleets can learn from Ewals Cargo Care

Innovation Manager Bart van Rens relies on tailor-made trailers and proves: If you don't know your numbers, you burn money.
Ewals Cargo Care sends around 5,000 trailers on the road, often in tough intermodal use. For Bart van Rens, the fleet is not a fleet, but a data laboratory. His credo: "You have to hold up a mirror to your own company." If you only control by feeling, you will lose touch in the fierce logistics competition.

Ewals breaks down each trailer into its DNA: brakes, axles, air suspension, tarpaulin, tires – and much more. The secret of the Dutch is not rocket science, but an insatiable hunger for data.

The goal is absolute cost transparency:

•  Workshop check: Who works efficiently, who is out of budget?
•  Component check: Which component delivers what marketing promises in real use?
•  Early warning system: Problems become visible before the trailer breaks down.

The extent to which different application profiles have an effect is exemplified by the brakes. Especially when it comes to the question: disc or drum? In intermodal transport with constant handling and changing tractors, the drum brake is  often the more economical choice for Ewals.

But be careful: "There is no standard solution," van Rens emphasizes. Ewals also manages fleets, e.g. large courier and logistics companies or non-food discounters, which run on stable driving profiles and even utilization. There, the calculation looks different. His lesson: If you want to keep your costs under control, you first have to understand your use.

While the tractor unit is often used as an expensive but interchangeable mass-produced product via full-service leasing, the trailer is the real lever for returns. The body and chassis can be precisely tailored to the job.

Here, Ewals not only acts as a buyer, but also as an active co-developer. The company shares its data expertise with partners such as BPW. The knowledge gained from practice thus flows into the further development of components and system solutions.

Ewals shows what is important: Profitability is not created by technology alone, but by the interplay of data, operational understanding and clear decisions. Or, as van Rens puts it: 

According to the Ewals principle by Bart van Rens

1. No more "uniform trailers": There is no perfect technology for everyone. If you drive in intermodal transport (rail/ferry/road), you need different components (e.g. drum brakes) than standard long-distance transport on the motorway. Rule: First analyze the mission profile, then configure the vehicle.

2. Data dictation instead of workshop trust: If workshop invoices are digitally recorded and assigned to components, they immediately expose conspicuous vehicles and partners. Rule: Each screw must justify its costs.

3. Understanding the trailer as a profit center: The costs of the tractor unit are often fixed by leasing contracts. The trailer, on the other hand, offers enormous adjustments in terms of maintenance, weight and durability. Rule: If you save on the trailer, you pay extra for the TCO.