Industry: Construction materials transport | Fleet size: ~200 trucks | Region: International with focus on Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland
Pultrum Rijssen (Pultrum) is a leading transport company with a fleet of nearly 200 trucks, specialized in moving construction materials, including odd-sized loads like timber and concrete fencing and other building products. Operating internationally, mainly across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Poland, Pultrum works with major shippers who depend on their reliable, timely delivery and excellence in complex international transport requirements.
To learn more about Pultrum’s digitalisation journey, we spoke with Rick Hoekstra, Fleet Application Manager at Pultrum Group, who has been involved in the TransFollow project for the past three years.
The Challenge: reducing paperwork and preparing for the future
Pultrum's transport documents were entirely paper-based and the volume was significant: with 100–120 routes a day and up to 15 delivery addresses per route, the planning team spent one to two hours daily just managing paperwork - printing, scanning, uploading, and archiving documents, like CMRs. Physical documents would occasionally go missing, leading to customer disputes and delayed invoicing, creating additional administrative burdens.
Pultrum decided to modernize its transport processes and future-proof operations ahead of anticipated wider adoption of digital solutions and legislative changes in the industry. Also sustainability was another important driver. The company invested heavily in sustainable solutions, including electric trucks, and eliminating paper documents aligned with the company’s environmental objectives.
The Solution: integrating eCMR into daily operations
Pultrum rolled out TransFollow starting with its LTL loads division - pallets and odd-sized goods - with about a third of the fleet using the platform initially.
The integration of TransFollow extends throughout the entire transport workflow. The solution is integrated into Pultrum’s Transport Management System, where transport orders are registered and automatically shared with drivers along with corresponding eCMRs. The transport data is registered in driver’s onboard computers, which have a seamless integration with TransFollow Drive app. As soon as loading or unloading takes place, drivers can access the documents, like eCMR, digitally on their onboard computer, collect signatures electronically, and instantly share the completed documents with customers and the back office, which significantly speeds up the invoicing process.
TransFollow Drive also lets drivers capture and share delivery photos, giving planning, driver administration, finance and customers real-time visibility into every shipment.
Pultrum also uses TransFollow Portal for administration, archiving of digital documents, if any issues arise or to cross check information from other systems.
The implementation
The implementation of TransFollow solution was successful, but like any digital transformation project, it also required effort and adaptation from all stakeholders involved. To make this transition smoother, the company introduced a structured rollout for drivers and back-office staff:
- Phased onboarding - Drivers and back-office staff were onboarded in small groups of 5–10 per week, allowing the employees to gradually become more comfortable with the new digital workflow.
- Division by division - The covered trailers division ran on eCMR for over a year before the rollout expanded to the full fleet, including open division, open transport, and flatbed.
- Subcontractors included - Subcontractor drivers were equipped with the same board computers as Pultrum's own fleet, ensuring consistency across all operations.
The results: greater efficiency, faster invoicing, and complete visibility
The transition to digital transport documents delivered immediate operational benefits.
- Up to 10 hours saved per week in manual administrative work by eliminating paper handling. The need for physical archiving has virtually disappeared, while document retrieval has become significantly easier.
- Reduced invoicing time - The instant availability of transport documents contributes to a faster invoicing process, in some cases making the invoicing possible even within the same day.
- Archiving eliminated entirely - no more physical document storage or retrieval.
- Wider customer adoption - many customers have embraced eCMR after seeing the benefits firsthand; while some still request paper copies alongside digital, that number continues to decrease.
- Added security and transparency - geolocation data tied to each signed document gives Pultrum and its customers an extra layer of proof in the event of a dispute.
- Driver’s work simplified – despite initial hesitation to digital process, the drivers quickly saw the benefits: once a delivery is signed off digitally, the driver is immediately free to move on to the next job, with no paperwork to complete or deliver back to the office later. No further questions asked, but a full alignment with all stakeholders.
"Working with TransFollow helps us optimize our transport document flow, making it more manageable, efficient and transparent. You always know the status of a document and remove any waiting time associated with paperwork."
- Rick Hoekstra, Fleet Application Manager, Pultrum Rijssen
The summary
Adopting digital transport document processes and eCMR has become part of a broader digitalisation strategy, to improve efficiencies and transparency among the stakeholders as well as achieve sustainability goals.
With every stakeholder - planning, drivers, finance, and customers - working from the same real-time information, Pultrum has turned a once time-consuming paper trail into a fast, transparent, and future-ready process.
