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Transport Resource Management

There is no technical reason why any correctly-maintained vehicle would break down.

Breakdowns are costly and unpredictable, and have serious impacts on health care delivery. Yet vehicles themselves are extremely predictable, even in the harsh environments in many African countries, provided they are serviced from the outset in conformity with the manufacturer’s instructions. Riders’ experience of working with vehicles in Africa over 17 years proves that breakdowns can be easily avoided through its systematic preventive maintenance services.

The simple fact is that rural Africa has no infrastructure for the management and maintenance of vehicles. However, Riders also knew that simply replicating the infrastructure that existed in the developed world would not work. Riders therefore developed its own model for managing the vehicles, people and money involved in the health care delivery operation that would be appropriate for Africa. The result was Transport Resource Management (TRM).

The critical part of TRM is Riders' Cost Per Kilometre charge. This means that organisations only pay for the kilometres that they travel. The transport-related resources that fall under the TRM system are: people, money, vehicles. TRM ensures that these three resources are correctly managed.

‘I would not hesitate to recommend the services of Riders to any other public institution looking for proper management service for its transport resources.’ Dr Gassama, former Secretary for Health and Social Welfare in the Gambia.

Preventive maintenance

The key to TRM is routine maintenance, carried out in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions. When this is done, whatever the environment, there is no need for any modern vehicle to experience any kind of negligence breakdown. Riders’ TRM system, run by highly trained African staff, places vehicles on strict preventive maintenance schedules.

The principle of TRM is preventive maintenance designed to sustain ‘zero-breakdown’ fleets of vehicles appropriate to African conditions. Preventive maintenance as part of TRM greatly improves vehicle efficiency, cost effectiveness and lifespan. Zero-breakdown allows Riders to work out the cost of running a vehicle within the TRM system to the nearest cent using the Riders-developed cost-per-km calculator, which takes account of maintenance interventions, replacement parts, fuel, management and logistics costs.

‘Our vehicles last longer in TRM. This is the point of preventive maintenance.’– Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Zimbabwe.

In Zimbabwe, Riders have run the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare’s fleet of vehicles for over 10 years without a single breakdown. In Lesotho Riders worked for 7 years with a fleet of 47 motorcycles without a single breakdown.

Benefits

Ensuring that your fleet is always fully serviced and free from breakdowns has clear economic benefits, as well as improving results for programme delivery. To find out about the benefits of effective fleet management, click here.

‘It has been proved that complete mobility of public health workers enhances the fight against malaria. Riders for Health has been the secret behind most functional vehicles and motorcycles in our districts.’ Dr Elizabeth Xaba, former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Zimbabwe.

Cost per kilometre calculator

Riders’ pricing mechanism is based on its ‘cost per kilometre’ (CPK) calculator, which enables vehicle management to be based on a precise understanding of how much money vehicles are using in terms of management, fuel and part. CPK calculates charges on distance travelled rather than for specific labour and parts. The direct link between distance travelled and cost regulates the normally unpredictable costs of vehicle maintenance, and allows your organisation to budget expenditures.

Outreach servicing

Riders’ logistics teams work on an ‘outreach’ basis, meaning that technicians will travel to service your vehicles on location. Riders is the only organisation in Africa providing comprehensive health worker transport maintenance on an outreach basis. This means that your organisation will not have to spend time and money transporting your vehicles to regional centres or capitals for servicing. This reduces the costs for your programme and means your staff do not have to spend valuable hours travelling to regional centres, and are not without vehicles for any longer than necessary.

Training

Riders for Health has spent 17 years developing Transport Resource Management into a replicable structure that facilitates nationwide delivery of public health care services in which ever African country it is implemented.

The people using the vehicles on a day to day basis play their part by carrying out daily maintenance routines to ensure the vehicles perform correctly until their next service. Riders is able to provide full training in safe riding and driving as well as in basic maintenance.

Fundamental to this is the Riders International Academy of Vehicle Management (IAVM). The curricula at the IAVM cover all aspects of rider/driver training, technical training, road safety, training of trainers, accounting, and management of logistics systems.

‘I was trained by Riders and if you look at the vehicle I am driving after two years compared to someone using a vehicle for only six months you see a very major difference – my vehicle is like new and theirs is like old.’ National Logistics Officer, Christian Care.

Riders’ training is highly successful at instilling a culture of pride and preventive maintenance in drivers. All drivers are trained to conduct daily checks on their vehicles to identify potential issues before they cause damage. This training allows drivers and riders to extend vehicle life and ensure performance until the next service.

To find out more about the IAVM and the courses on offer, click here.

If you would like more information on TRM and how it could help your organisation, click here to fill out an enquiry form.