Gambus Energy is a telematics company that provides advance remote control and monitoring of assets. It deploys Operational Expense (OPEX) Solutions, to help clients work from house remotely, save more money and grow businesses. Its services include-Fleet Monitoring, Generator Intelligence, Engine Monitoring, Power Monitoring, Fuel Motioning, Marine Solution and Rail monitoring.
In this interview with Cliffsimeon Akalonu, the Managing Director of Gambus Energy Limited), Mr. Ayoola Olaitan (a lawyer by profession, and a solicitor of England and Wales, he was also the Founder and COO of CTracks) speaks on the importance of having trackers and fuel monitoring devices in trucks and fleets.
As regards transportation, how is Gambus Energy Nig Ltd coping with the current economic situation in the country?
I think the current economic situation is good for people like Gambus because we are interested in making business easier and cheaper to maintain for our clients For instance; the cost of fuel is expensive and we know what drivers do with fuel. We have a solution that allows you to monitor how much fuel was bought, what the vehicle consumed and how much was claimed.
With the kind of technology we have, you can be able to monitor your trucks on route to Sokoto and other long-distance routes within Nigeria and beyond, know when they are over speeding, fuel consumption and it can also give you access to monitor your container/goods on transit against theft and other abuses because we have cameras that allow you to view and monitor. So, I will say that the current economic situation in the country is for companies who are helping entrepreneurs to work smartly, faster and cheaper.
What are the challenges facing Gambus Energy and the Fleet management side of it?
I think the biggest challenge so far is foreign exchange. We don’t manufacture trucks here not even the parts, in fact nothing is been produced here and most of our tools and products are sourced abroad. The exchange rate is inimical to our business because we do pass through hell to source for foreign currency to do business. In the areas of fleet management, I will say that the challenge here is the inability to learn new things. These days we no longer have illiterates, what we have now are literates like doctors, engineers and others but the problem is how they can forget what they were taught in the universities and learn a new thing that was not taught in the universities.
Can you mention some of the benefits attached with telematics?
The greatest benefit is that it allows you to have your eyes on your goods and properties. For example, your truck is loading at Apapa, it will allow you to know what time it arrives Apapa, when it leaves Apapa. It will also give a long span to your trucks because it allows you to have a time schedule of a truck when it is due for maintenance as well as monitor drivers behaviour. The speed limiting device that was introduced by the FRSC was not just to reduce overspeeding but to save the life of a driver and that of the passengers. So telematics, if you don’t have it and you are in business you are a joker and that is the problem most logistics companies have.
Are Nigerians embracing telematics?
If Nigeria is two hundred million people, practically, one hundred million people are using phones.
For example when your phone or vehicle got lost, is it not through the phones that items of such get tracked, no matter the distance? So automatically Nigerians has embraced it already because very soon, we will be moving from this level to the next level where we will now be using electric cars , so you can see that very soon we no longer be monitoring engines but batteries.
The beauty of telematics like I told you, is the telephone; as long as there is GPS and GSM. Like our padlock, if anything happens where there is no GPS, it will also alert you when the GPS comes up that your container was opened with key at so so point and hour, this is special with our Gambus Padlock.
How are you coping with the variety of services you render, ranging from oil & gas, rail, marine and land transportation?
Like every other business in Nigeria, owners must look for a way to cope. We dont believe much in advertising here and there, but we believe in word of the mouth. You know the problem in this country is not how to render services but how to maintain services and this is our unique selling point because we maintain services.
Can you explain more on fuel monitoring because it seems that most companies and fleet owners are not conversant with it and do not know about it and how it works, is there more we need to know about it?
Ok. Let me ask, what is the most expensive recurrent expenditure in logistics business? Is fuel! As a haulage and logistics man, 40percent is your fuel expenses and even at this point you are also losing 10 percent to pilferage, supply or bad fuel.
Under supply is when you have paid for hundred litters and they brought eighty litters. Oversupply is when there is still fuel in the truck, for example when you are heading to Sokoto or to Maiduguri and it gets to the middle of the road and call you that there is no fuel in the car and you beg him to use his money that you will refund him back, on arrival but if you have the monitoring device attached in that vehicle automatically you will know if he is telling you the truth or false. So if you are saving on that you can as well divert the money into another thing else.
How would you want the government to support the telematic companies and operators in Nigeria?
I am one who doesn’t care about what the government supports with, I am only interested on how the government can support local and private businesses by providing enabling and business-friendly environment.
Your advice to your customers and others of transport concern
Be smart, be safe, make more money with less stress and run your office from your armchair.
