Harmon cuts onboarding time 70% with Avetta overhaul

Harmon Transportation has used Avetta to overhaul its onboarding, safety and compliance systems, cutting onboarding time by 70% and lifting revenue by 93%.

The Australian light freight operator, which focuses on urgent 24-hour hotshot deliveries for the mining industry, completed the work over 18 months. The project also increased profit margins to 17% without adding administrative staff, according to the companies.

Before the overhaul, Harmon relied on paper-based processes and spreadsheets. That created operational inefficiencies, slowed onboarding and made it harder for the business to scale.

It also left gaps in workplace health and safety compliance, limiting its ability to win work from larger customers. In a tightly regulated sector with demanding operating conditions, those shortcomings can affect both growth and day-to-day risk management.

Truck driving remains one of Australia's most dangerous occupations, according to Safe Work Australia. The work is especially challenging on remote mining routes, where drivers cover long distances and must manage fatigue as well as hazards such as animals on the road.

Systems shift

As part of the changes, Harmon adopted a "no paper, no spreadsheets" approach. It used Avetta alongside its internal systems so data could be cross-referenced and checked for compliance issues or inconsistencies.

This allowed the business to identify missing information more quickly and address potential red flags earlier. The improvements covered operations, finance, workplace health and safety, and technology processes.

Another outcome was Western Australia Heavy Vehicle Accreditation, or WAHVA. Harmon said the accreditation strengthened its position to pursue higher-value contracts and gave assurance that it was meeting required safety and compliance standards.

Paul Konstek, Harmon chief executive, described manual administration as a major constraint in logistics.

"In the highly regulated logistics sector, spreadsheets and manual processes are a death sentence," Konstek said.

He said the operational changes improved financial performance without requiring extra back-office hiring.

"Collaborating with Avetta was a gamechanger. We experienced phenomenal bottom-line growth without needing to hire additional admin staff, which reflects the robust, reliable and highly efficient systems we now have in place," he said.

Konstek also contrasted Harmon's new process with onboarding under other systems used by some customers and operators. Those systems, he said, often create delays because users must clarify basic questions before work can begin.

"When working with clients using other systems or their own bespoke systems, they are often not tailored for their industry or business, leading to a lot of back and forth simply to clarify what the questions mean," he said. "It wastes a lot of time. Instead, working with Avetta, we're onboarding in 30% of the time and getting our people moving faster."

Safety focus

Avetta said the project focused not only on administration but also on building a more structured safety culture. It pointed to repeatable and auditable processes as a key part of the work with Harmon.

"Under Paul's leadership, Harmon embarked on a journey to eliminate paper and spreadsheets, building a stronger, more proactive safety culture in the process," said Luke Boyle, vice president of operations, APAC, at Avetta. "We're incredibly proud to have partnered with Harmon to uplift their safety maturity-from achieving WAHVA to embedding repeatable, auditable safety processes across every job and every driver."

Boyle said digitised workflows and better visibility into compliance issues had changed how the transport operator manages risk.

"By digitising WHS workflows, improving data accuracy and giving the team real-time visibility into compliance risks, Harmon now operates with a level of safety assurance that protects their people, their clients, and the communities they serve," he said. "Their business growth is a testament to what becomes possible when safety excellence is truly embedded into day-to-day operations."

Avetta says it works with more than 130,000 businesses in more than 120 countries, providing a platform for compliance, prequalification, safety and performance benchmarking. For Harmon, the result was faster onboarding, formal accreditation and higher revenue while keeping administrative headcount unchanged.