Company:Action Safety Supply Co.Number of Vehicles:30+Closest Major City:Oklahoma CityChallenges:Customer ServiceLaborProductivitySolution:Fleet DirectoreClient® with ReporterMessaging

TELETRACWith nearly 20 years of provenexperience and over 4,000 commercialfleet customers, Teletrac is the marketleader in providing comprehensivelocation and communication solutions toimprove fleet productivity. The companycurrently offers intelligent wirelessnetworking throughout the U.S.

For further informationWebsite: www.teletrac.netTelephone: 1-800-835-3872E-mail: sales@teletrac.net

©2007 Teletrac, Inc. OnTrac - Action SafetySupply Co. - 042407 All rights reserved.

Action Safety Supply Co.Delivers ‘9-1-1’ responsetimes.

“…with Teletrac, jobs are completed faster...expensive non-productive 'stand by' times havebeen greatly reduced ...”

When your business is supplying traffic safetyand control equipment plus offering paintstriping and striping removal contractingservices, customer service is paramount.

Jerry Hietpas, Action’s President, explained,‘The old cliche that 20% of your customersprovide 80% of your business is reversed forus. On the rental side of the business, we haveto constantly set the standard. Customers canrent barricades, arrow boards, cones, anddelineators from lots of companies. So it’scritical that our deliveries are made on time.That damaged units are promptly repaired orreplaced. That field service operations areperformed on schedule. And that we’re able torespond to emergency situations quick.’

Being in the safety business also carries addedliabilities. If an accident occurs because ofdamaged or malfunctioning safety equipment,the company may be held responsible. WithTeletrac, Action can prove when a technicianarrived, what he did, and when he left. Thecompany is also protected against false claimsof vehicle damage caused by signs blowing offthe company’s trucks or reports of unsafedriving. Mr. Hietpas said, ‘The vast majority turnout to be false accusations. In the past, wewould have accepted responsibility and bornethe cost. But with Fleet Director, we can ask afew simple questions and immediatelydetermine if the complaint was legitimate.’

Teletrac Fleet Director has also paid majordividends on the pavement side of thebusiness. Before Teletrac, an entire crewwould be onsite just waiting while preparationswere still being made. That added up to a lot ofexpensive unproductive time, especially whena single striping truck can represent a$525,000 investment, plus all of the supportvehicles. Now, support crews are shifted fromone location to another, so they are alwayswith a striping convoy that is ready to beginwork. Now, jobs are completed faster and‘stand by’ times have been greatly reduced.

Management reports are used to checkmanual time sheets against the documentedTeletrac records. Any discrepancies are notedand quickly corrected. Other reports allowAction to document all jobsite arrival, onsiteand departure times as well as all messagessent and received. These reports provide thecompany with 100% validation andmeasurement of its employees’ performance.

Mr. Hietpas summarized with, ‘Teletrac hasproven to be an important tool in helping usachieve the high standards we have alwayssought. Our Teletrac system helps us managethe planned and the unplanned with lessstress and better performance.’

SERVICE/CONTRACTING

 

 

Safety First With Fleet Director Pays Dividends for Alamo Transit / Alamo Cement Company

Alamo, a leading supplier to the construction industry in the San Antonio, Texas area, operates approximately 200 large rigs driven by owner‐operators. These haulers deliver more than three million tons annually across Texas, ranging from aggregate and sand to slag and coal and petcoke, plus some countless amount of sacks of Alamo Cement and Quikcrete. The company was launched in 1880. While honoring its long history based in central Texas, Alamo pioneered the use of advanced telematics and, in particular, hours of service (HOS) e‐logging. The company is now one of the most experienced of its kind in applying these technologies to improve safety.  Highway safety is a driving force behind virtually everything Alamo does in transport, from its careful selection of high quality owner‐operators to requiring that every truck be Teletrac‐equipped. It's one of the most important ways Alamo partners with its Alamo Transit owner‐operators to deliver outstanding service with a long term view of safety's bottom‐line benefits. This approach demonstrates that relationships, regulatory compliance and profitability can go hand in hand.  Alamo Transit / Alamo Cement are owned by Buzzi Unicem, an Italian company with a global presence in the cement industry. Raul Tamez, vice president of traffic, runs his operation like a fine sportscar: precise and efficient. One key is operating a safe fleet with Alamo Transit owner‐operators who practice safe driving behavior. Safety‐related cost savings go straight to the bottom line. These savings include fuel efficiency, vehicle maintenance, repair costs and insurance premiums, plus avoiding direct and indirect costs of crashes. Indirect costs include schedule disruptions, and customer relations eroded by missed deliveries to construction projects operating on their own tight schedules.  Full regulatory compliance also generates cost savings. By using Fleet Director for electronic hours‐of‐service (HOS) logging, Alamo eliminates paperwork associated with manual logs. "We had to verify and keep paper logs for about 200 Alamo Transit owner‐operators on file for six months," Tamez says. "Now all the data is in Teletrac's system, available to us 24/7 from any browser." Driver and vehicle data are captured automatically in Alamo's HOS e‐logs and integrated with Fleet Director's GPS vehicle tracking and date/time stamps, so there's no need to verify logs. The e‐logs are inherently accurate. And Alamo is automatically CSA 2010 compliant with EOBR (electronic onboard recorder) requirements.  Some fleet managers worry about Alamo Transit owner‐operators accepting monitoring and e‐logging. But once Alamo transit owner‐operators understand how Fleet Director makes their lives easier, they never want to go back to the old way. One driver recalls, "When they first put Teletrac on the trucks, I thought it was going to be a bad deal. Now I love it. Saves a lot of time, a lot of hassle. You don't have to keep logbooks or anything. No paperwork! In the morning, punch in your number, you are ready to go. Punch out at night, that's it. Mileage and everything, it tells you at the end of the day. You don't have to sit there figuring out your log: 'This is not working, that is not right.' And you can go back and see all the days, all the weeks, whatever you have done."  Another Alamo transit owner‐operator says, "It keeps us from having to explain a lot of things. There were a lot of people [in their cars on the road] who would pick up a cell phone and say, 'We have a driver here that's weaving all over 

 

 

the road,' or 'driving too fast.' Now all the dispatcher has to do is hit a couple of buttons and know exactly whether [the caller] is telling the truth—or not."  For owner‐operators, protection against mistaken complaints isn't the only benefit. Alamo places a sign on the driver‐side door of every rig, announcing that e‐logging is in force and the vehicle is being monitored by Teletrac. "As soon as they see that," a driver says, "DPS doesn't even mess with us. They know we're running legal, because there's no way around it. You can't beat it."  Tamez adds, "It has been a great help when our driver pulls up to a checkpoint or DPS trooper stop. They can see we are electronically logging. Sometimes they will move us around in front of a lot of other trucks. It reduces the waiting time for that driver"—and helps Alamo maintain on‐time deliveries and efficient operations.  When Tamez first evaluated telematics service providers, he says, "We wanted to purchase from an industry leader, a company that was already selling to leaders in the transportation sector. When I visited with Teletrac, I asked as to who were some of their major customers. The name Ryder came up. And that made a big impression on me. It's one of the reasons we went with Teletrac and Fleet Director." Alamo's long list of criteria also included a system that was simple to operate, offered near‐100% uptime, reduced paperwork and updated frequently. It had to be a system that law enforcement agencies recognized and respected, enabled easy training for dispatchers and Alamo Transit owner‐operators. Further, Alamo sought to strengthen security by being able to quickly recover stolen tractors, and to gain competitive advantage by improving customer service.  Teletrac and Fleet Director met all the requirements and continues to do so. Says Tamez, "We have been very, very pleased with our decision."  About Fleet Director and Teletrac Already proven and trusted by more than 10,000 fleets in the US alone, Fleet Director saves fleet owners time, money, and reduces their carbon footprint. Teletrac customers report up to 30% lower fuel usage, an average of 15% less driver overtime, 12% higher productivity and less unauthorized vehicle use.  Teletrac is headquartered in Garden Grove, CA.  For additional information, visit www.teletrac.net, contact Teletrac at  1‐800‐500‐6009, or via e‐mail at info@teletrac.net. 

Company:Builders FirstSource, Inc.Number of Vehicles:1600Closest Major City:Dallas, TX (Corporate, 117 additional in12 states)Challenges:Vehicle Locations, Cost ControlsSolution:Fleet Director® eClient® with Reporterand Alert, Message Display Terminal

TELETRACWith nearly 20 years of provenexperience and over 4,500 commercialfleet customers, Teletrac is the marketleader in providing comprehensivelocation and communication solutions toimprove fleet productivity. The companycurrently offers intelligent wirelessnetworking throughout the U.S.

For further informationWebsite: www.teletrac.netTelephone: 1-800-835-3872E-mail: sales@teletrac.net

© 2008 Teletrac. Builders FirstSource

Builders FirstSource, Inc.Uses less fuel, makesmore deliveries.

“Out of route miles have beenvirtually eliminated.”

Builders FirstSource (BFS), a $2 billiondiversified manufacturer and supplier ofstructural building materials and services tohomebuilders, selected Fleet Director onlyafter an extensive review based on field trialsin several regions. Salim Baltagi, vicepresident - logistics, headed up the selectionprocess.

His selection criteria included:• Offer a broad set of fleet management anddriver measurement tools.• Be an integrated system that would monitorengine idle times, provide maintenance alerts,automate state fuel tax and DOT reportpreparation.• Record driver activities for start, stop and on-break times as well as vehicle speed.• Ease of use.• The quality of manufacturer training andsupport.

“Obviously, Fleet Director won the competitionhands down”, said Mr. Baltagi. He continuedwith, “Our fleet logs an average of around4,000,000 miles per month. Fuel consumptionis watched very closely. After installing FleetDirector, engine idling times have droppedsignificantly. By knowing each truck’s location

and status in real time, we are making moredeliveries per day with the same or fewernumbers of trucks. We no longer criss-crossroutes. Out of route miles have been virtuallyeliminated.”

BFS credits the 2-way communications withhelping cut fuel consumption as well. Manydeliveries are made to new developmentswhere street signs and house numbers are notyet avai lable. Fleet Director allowsdispatchers to give drivers turn-by-turndirections to the proper location. This hassaved countless wasted miles.

Fleet Director’s Alert software has improvedsecurity. Many alert parameters are in place.These include geo-fences, engine hours ofoperation and speeds. Any exception will notifyappropriate personnel at their workstation, viacell phone or pager. “If a loaded truck is sittingin our yard and someone starts the engine pastcurfew, we need to know about it immediately.Otherwise, it could mean a loss of severalthousand dollars. With Fleet Director Alert,we’re on top of our assets 24 hours a day,” Mr.Baltagi said. He concluded with, “All in all, FleetDirector is an excellent, easy-to-use, versatiletool. We would not operate without it”

DISTRIBUTION

 

 

MP Nexlevel Poised For Cost Savings With Teletrac

MP Nexlevel provides utility construction services across the central and southwest US. Since 1973 the company has completed well over 300 projects; today some 500 employees operate more than 800 vehicles and off‐road equipment ranging from plows and backhoes to trenchers and directional drill rigs. MP Nexlevel teams operate in 32 states and generate annual revenues exceeding $100 million. These teams have earned a hard‐won reputation for “getting the job done” — delivering high quality work, often on demanding deadlines under weather and terrain conditions that can daunt even the most experienced managers.   Like any company with mobile assets, MP Nexlevel faces typical fleet management challenges: needing to know where every vehicle is located or where it’s headed, what condition it’s in and, for road vehicles, how safely and economically it’s being driven. But in MP Nexlevel’s case, on‐ and off‐road assets are scattered across a vast swath of the continent. “We studied many options and many vendors over a long period of time,” says Michael Raiche, the company’s global information systems (GIS) manager. “Ultimately there was one clear choice: Teletrac.”  Why Teletrac? “We needed an integrated GPS provider that offers services on the ground wherever we do business, and that covers a lot of territory,” Raiche says. “We need the potential to track vehicles when they are out in the middle of nowhere, out of cell phone range. We insisted on getting the same high levels of performance, reliability and support we give our own customers. We wanted to see a long track record backing up those claims. And finally, we talked to managers of Teletrac‐equipped fleets to assess the quality of their experience and level of satisfaction. On all counts, Teletrac met or exceeded our requirements.”  In 1Q10, Teletrac completed installation on 820 MP Nexlevel cars, trucks and off‐road motorized equipment. “From what we’ve experienced during our pilot project, we’re anticipating substantial benefits to the company, our customers and employees,” Raiche says. He offers these examples:  

Locating assets. Until now MP Nexlevel personnel spent hours manually pinning down locations of the company’s crews, vehicles and equipment. That’s history. Teletrac’s Fleet Director automatically displays all locations 24/7 throughout all the regions in which MP Nexlevel chooses to operate. Within the first 6 months MP Nexlevel recovered both a 2008 one ton pickup and a large towable air compressor that had been stolen. 

Reducing capital expenditures and equipment rental costs. “If we can’t deliver equipment to a job site quickly enough to meet the project schedule, we rent it. On the other hand, if we’re not using it, we need to sell it,” Raiche says. Teletrac data has helped MP Nexlevel fleet, equipment and project managers know exactly what assets they have available within a given travel time and what equipment they really need and don’t need ─ enabling them to tighten capital and operating budgets. Numerous utilization reports have been created, allowing the team to make decisions based on facts instead of perceptions and estimates. 

Analyzing on‐site performance. Teletrac geo‐locating is so precise, MP Nexlevel can now track the movements of each equipment piece across a job site. Location tracking overlaid on the site’s aerial photographic imaging gives MP Nexlevel managers a direct, real‐time understanding of a project’s progress to supplement reports received from the field. “We expect to use this unique capability to help with project closure,” says Raiche. “And because Teletrac archives all location data, we can recap the job — essentially replay it like a movie — which will help us make more accurate startup projections for the next job.” 

 

 

Reducing vehicle insurance costs. MP Nexlevel expects to recapture significant costs for insuring its hundreds of road vehicles. “Insurers know their risks steeply decline once we are monitoring each driver’s speed, acceleration and braking behavior in real time, and getting real‐time alerts of any infraction. They pass those savings along to us — one of several ways we expect a sizable payback on our Teletrac system investment.” 

Remote on‐site labor and job tracking. MP Nexlevel backoffice operations must process huge amounts of paperwork, incurring substantial labor costs. Integrated Teletrac data reporting can help MP Nexlevel streamline and automate many processes and reduce errors and rework, freeing office workers to perform tasks that add more value to the company’s bottom line.  

Improving fuel economy to reduce fuel cost. With hundreds of road vehicles operating across 32 states, MP Nexlevel feels the pinch when pump prices soar. Monitoring driver behavior will help ease fuel consumption by reducing gas‐guzzling behaviors like speeding, hard acceleration and excessive idling. Further, drivers can now take the most fuel efficient routes and avoid getting lost, even on back roads with few landmarks — or no roads at all.  

Improving vehicle performance and maintenance. Teletrac remotely monitors engine diagnostic codes, giving MP Nexlevel fleet managers vital clues to fine‐tune each vehicle’s maintenance. Expected result: vehicles will run more cost‐effectively. The company can also generate savings on preventive maintenance by replacing certain parts only when diagnostics predict impending failure.  

Vehicle and equipment recovery. In late April 2010, MP Nexlevel worked with police to obtain a search warrant to recover a compressor trailer that vanished from a Minneapolis site. When the company noticed its trailer had gone missing, it took just seconds to pinpoint the equipment’s current location — in the garage of a private home. Because no one was home, police said, they needed a warrant to search. But MP Nexlevel knew precisely what they would find — and where!  

 “As we fully integrate Teletrac GPS and related data into our operations,” Raiche concludes, “we’ll be able to further reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction through stronger commitments and increase customer satisfaction with improved process flows and equipment availability” — all of which will help this large utility service provider build an even stronger bottom line for years to come  About Fleet Director and Teletrac Already proven and trusted by more than 10,000 fleets in the US alone, Fleet Director saves fleet owners time, money, and reduces their carbon footprint. Teletrac customers report up to 30% lower fuel usage, an average of 15% less driver overtime, 12% higher productivity and less unauthorized vehicle use.  Teletrac is headquartered in Garden Grove, CA.  For additional information, visit www.teletrac.net, contact Teletrac at  1‐800‐500‐6009, or via e‐mail at info@teletrac.net.