Can we get information from you about ISTAB?
Istanbul Transport Association is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992. The purpose of its establishment is to create a power by bringing together the service companies and to represent the rights and interests of its members in the best way in the sector by creating a synergy from this power. ISTAB, which was not very active in the first years of its establishment despite the efforts of well-intentioned presidents, has shown a tremendous development and growth especially in the last 10 years due to reasons such as the situation in the transportation sector and the rapid growth of the transportation sector in Istanbul. ISTAB has made significant progress especially in the name of institutionalization and has thus gained serious acceptance in the sector and in the eyes of the authorities. All these developments are very pleasing developments for ISTAB. I have been serving as the chairman of ISTAB for two terms. This term is, in principle, my last term and one of my goals for this term is to train someone who will continue the growth momentum and synergy achieved in ISTAB and leave the chairmanship to him.
ISTAB has activities for its own members and for the public authorities that regulate the sector. For example, it facilitates its members to reach the most profitable results by making advantageous purchases. On issues related to the functioning and improvement of the sector, ISTAB is actively working to make the transportation business more systematic by submitting directives and suggestions to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Ministry of Transportation.
ISTAB currently has approximately 300 members. While 270 of these members are active and very active, the other 30 members continue to work in a more passive position. Currently, there is a park of 50 thousand service vehicles in Istanbul and this park is directed by these 300 companies that are members of ISTAB. 50 thousand units is really a very big number. Because when you add up all the provinces of Turkey except Istanbul, the total number of service vehicles cannot reach 50 thousand. In other words, Istanbul alone constitutes more than 50% of the entire Turkey with this vehicle park. Of course, such a large market has its own serious problems and issues. ISTAB’s board of directors is working to overcome these problems and make production. Our board of directors works in a structure consisting of both experienced members from well-established companies of the sector and young friends with high vision and synergy from smaller and younger companies.
What were your business needs and on what basis did you decide to purchase a vehicle tracking system?
The expectations and demands of our customers are an asset that is always on our agenda and our priority. When we list the expectations and concerns of our customers, we see that we need some arguments to answer these concerns. We know that the best way to obtain these arguments is to create data and information. When we say creating data and information, the issue of identifying this data comes to the fore. Since this determination is no longer done by human beings but by technology in today’s conditions, Arvento sits at the top of our agenda and our list of needs as the main actor at this point.
Until today, due to the very low number of selfowned vehicles in our operating systems, we have been working largely with suppliers. As such, issues such as where the supplier went, what he did, how long he traveled, how long he waited at idle, how much fuel he consumed were not very important for us. However, since service companies are obliged to invest in own vehicles with the developing regulations, monitoring the movements of these vehicles has become an important asset for us. At this point, Arvento is at the top of our list as the main actor. With Arvento, we monitor the movements of the vehicles, and we create an efficiency. For example, we have determined that our drivers come together in a vehicle to keep warm, especially in the winter months, turn on the heater from morning to night and run the vehicle, resulting in a great fuel consumption. Likewise, by looking at the paths followed by the vehicles, we look at issues such as whether they are doing special jobs outside of the work we offer them, whether they are causing damage to the company. We also check the fuel consumption of these vehicles and confirm the rates.
Arvento’s work like this, especially on school buses, is also very valuable for us. Arvento is a company that works very well in satisfying the curiosity of mothers and parents about the status of the school buses carrying students and is the market leader in its field. At the same time, it is also pleasing to receive these services without interruption. Arvento provides us with a lot of data such as sending SMS messages to parents when the shuttle service is approaching, setting up defined zones and automatically checking what time the vehicles arrive at these defined zones every day, so we save a lot of money. Not only fuel savings, but also labor and even vehicle savings.
How Many Service Vehicles Are There in Traffic in Istanbul?
The needs of 26% of Istanbul’s public transportation market are met by school buses. We know that 11 thousand school buses are currently providing school transportation in Istanbul. A significant portion of these 11 thousand school buses, more than half of them, serve school A and school B twice a day. Especially in the summer months, as these 11 thousand vehicles are withdrawn from traffic, there is a great relief in traffic. When we look at the issue in numbers, these vehicles consume approximately 700 thousand liters of fuel every day. This value corresponds to 5 million kilometers of road. From another perspective, service vehicles travel the equivalent of circumnavigating the globe 125 times every day. Nearly 110 tires are worn out every day. Therefore, the management, administration and control of such a large market, and the efficiency that can be derived from it, are of utmost importance. There is still a lot of work to be done in the transportation sector. Therefore, Arvento is becoming a very important teammate, partner and solution partner for us in this process.
What are the Reasons for Choosing Arvento as a Solution Partner?
As ISTAB, we held a tender with very wide participation years ago. We created a specification and delivered this specification to all the important players of the sector in order to be impartial. We asked all these companies to examine the specification and edit it by making the necessary additions and subtractions. As a result of all the work, we came up with a specification. After the specification became clear, we held a meeting within ISTAB and collected the offers. Among these offers, Arvento’s offer was the one that offered the best conditions in terms of both price and service. One of the reasons why we preferred Arvento and why we, as ISTAB, stand behind it and promote it to the sector is that it provides us with the best advantage in the sector and still maintains the conditions and position it offered in the first place. For this reason, I believe that our cooperation and solution partnership with Arvento will continue for many years.