Our asset monitoring capabilities helped Blackburns Chimney Services’ stolen utility trailer be recovered in less than 24 hours.
Background
Blackburns Chimney Services has been the trusted chimney sweep company of central Ohio residents for over 30 years. Offering chimney sweeps and inspections, masonry repair, caps, leaky chimney solutions, fireplace service & dryer vent cleaning, and more. Active members of both the Chimney Safety Institute of America and the National Chimney Sweep Guild, Blackburn’s Chimney Sweeps aims to set the standard for professional chimney care.
The Challenge
Blackburns Chimney Services started looking for an asset monitoring solution after one of their utility trailers was stolen. In addition to the cost of the physical trailer, the company had to replace all the expensive equipment and tools in the utility trailer at the time. Despite having security cameras on premise, they had no way to monitor their vehicles, track their assets in real-time and also have a way to quickly be alerted if the asset was moved during non-working hours or stolen.
The Solution
Prior to Powerfleet, Blackburns relied solely on the memory of the last person to physically move a utility trailer as to where it was located. They needed not only a system that would allow them to see where a vehicle or high value utility trailer was, but one that could be configured to send an alert when the trailer was moved unexpectedly during off hours.
Powerfleet’s solution implementation:
Provides Track & Trace for the exact location of assets in real-time
Aids in the almost immediate recovery of a stolen, high-value utility trailer
Generates automated alerts for asset movement during set non-working hours
Results
In a bizarre happenstance, less than a month after signing on with Powerfleet, the replacement utility trailer for the one that was initially stolen was stolen again. The trailer was taken in the early morning and recovered within a few hours. As the asset monitoring system is designed and configured with multiple “on” and “off” hour working schedules, an alert was sent out as soon as the “unplanned movement” was detected, alerting the company staff in an instant rather than waiting to be discovered.
“The Powerfleet solution is easy to use. The Powerfleet team is helpful and has follow-up meetings after installation to make sure we know how to manage it. At the time our utility trailer was stolen and equipped with Powerfleet technology, I was out of town (not in the office), but
the system was easy to use remotely. I was able to log-in and track our assets from anywhere,” said Debbie Wiedwald, Owner, Blackburns Chimney Services.
“The Powerfleet solution is easy to use. The Powerfleet team is helpful and has follow-up meetings after installation to make sure we know how to manage it. At the time our utility trailer was stolen and equipped with Powerfleet technology, I was out of town (not in the office), but the system was easy to use remotely. I was able to log-in and track our assets from anywhere,”
Debbie Wiedwald
Owner
Blackburns Chimney Services
Conclusion
Powerfleet was able to provide true real-time asset visibility to the company and improved the overall utility trailer fleet security. With access to on-demand tracking, Blackburn’s Chimney Services are now fully capable of recovering an asset if it were to be stolen again, while providing valuable information to law enforcement and their insurance provider.
In addition to being able to monitor asset locations, the office team at Blackburns Chimney Services can now get a deeper insight into the utilization of their assets, which helps control operating costs while improving efficiency.
Powerfleet transforms the way organizations manage mobile business assets — like forklifts, cargo trailers, and connected cars. Our technologies control, track, analyze, and optimize hundreds of thousands of these assets all over the world. We help organizations be safer, improve efficiency, and cut costs.
Kavak is a Mexican company that operates an online marketplace for used cars. Using connected cars and real-time data, they are reimagining maintenance, upselling, safety, and customer loyalty. Moises Flores Botello, Kavak’s Chief Financial Officer, speaks about how valuable Kavak’s relationship with PowerFleet has been during the past four years. Kavak relies on PowerFleet for developing recovery strategies, analytics, and using data processing to continue developing new revenue streams.
Powerfleet transforms the way organizations manage mobile business assets — like forklifts, cargo trailers, and connected cars. Our technologies control, track, analyze, and optimize hundreds of thousands of these assets all over the world. We help organizations be safer, improve efficiency, and cut costs.
Church Transportation & Logistics is a Birmingham, AL based truckload transportation provider. The company was founded in March 2000 with one truck and one trailer. Over the years the company has grown to 70 trucks and 125 trailers and expanded its business services. Church Transportation turned to Powerfleet in 2014 to help transform how the company maintains reliable asset visibility and increase utilization.
Situation
Church Transportation was having an issue with reliable visibility of their trailers which resulted in trailers going missing or being misappropriated by their customers as storage units. While they conducted physical asset checks, these were infrequent and time-consuming. Between yard checks, drivers and other employees manually tracked the company’s assets, which was not only prone to human error but also consumed valuable labor hours that could have been better utilized elsewhere.
Church Transportation needed a real-time visibility solution for their fleet that could improve their day-to-day processes and tracking capabilities.
Task
The following areas of concern were presented to Powerfleet to solve:
1. Increase utilization of trailers
2. Reduce the need for manual and time-consuming yard checks
3. Improve visibility, reliability, and frequency asset reporting
4. Improve customer accountability through more accurate data
Church Transportation relies on a quick turnaround for their trailers since they work with a smaller but more efficient asset pool than most companies in the industry. A trailer sitting idle in a customer’s yard is an asset that can’t be utilized elsewhere. Without better visibility, assets could, and have, ended up lost, which costs Church Transportation valuable time and money.
Action
Church Transportation and Logistics operates its fleet with good tractor to trailer ratios, lower than most companies in the industry. Their profitability comes through a fast turnaround time for their trailers to keep the pool moving. With access to Powerfleet’s increased reporting capabilities, Church Transportation can see when a trailer is idle for longer than ten days and reach out to the customer to better understand the situation.
Powerfleet’s solution:
· Provided frequent and accurate visibility of trailers
· Reduced the need for time-consuming manual yard checks
· Provided intuitive reporting features that can be tailored to customer specifications
· Improved trailer turnaround times and utilization
· Reduced the overall risk of theft or misuse
“Two years ago, we could buy a dry van trailer for $30,000 – today, they are $50,000. Some receivers use our trailers as an extension of their warehouse. One of our customers has 20-25 of our trailers at any given time. Powerfleet’s solution has allowed me to see when a trailer has been dropped for more than seven to ten days. Powerfleet’s solution lets us see where our trailers are at any time and enables better communication with our customers because we are armed with accurate data to hold them accountable,”
Fenn Church
President & CEO
Church Transportation & Logistics
Results
Church Transportation saves over $9,000 a year in yard check labor costs alone!
With the help of Powerfleet, Church Transportation has achieved the following additional results:
· Saved valuable labor hours by eliminating the need for manual yard checks
· Improved asset utilization and tracking
· Now receives daily reliable reporting on Dormant Assets and Landmarks
“It’s a 30-minute drive away to look for our trailers, which our staff was doing three times a week for a minimum of 3 hours. Now, instead of wasting time doing manual yard checks, they can stay in the office working on value-added tasks,” says Mr. Church.
Additionally, part of Church Transportation’s business model is to use the latest technology and equipment for their fleet. They maintain a relatively short use time for their trailers at 14 months, giving them spotless DOT Inspection records and helps the company to maintain a very high safety score. Through Powerfleet’s easy-to-install trackers, the devices can be removed and reinstalled on new trailers quickly for seamless transitions. Easy installation was also a helpful factor when the company upgraded its fleet from 3G devices to the latest 4G/LTE products in 2021.
Conclusion
Powerfleet was able to improve asset visibility and utilization with accurate automated reporting for Church Transportation. Equipped with real-time tracking capabilities, Church Transportation can decide when they want to receive their dormant asset reports, changing the reporting intervals from 30 days down to ten. This information provides a significantly more accurate snapshot of their operations and drastically reduces trailer dwell time.
“Powerfleet offers an affordable solution that provides the visibility we needed to know where our trailers are so that we can get more utilization out of them,” said Mr. Church. “I enjoy working with Powerfleet, the team is responsive to my needs and their system is easy to use.”
Powerfleet transforms the way organizations manage mobile business assets — like forklifts, cargo trailers, and connected cars. Our technologies control, track, analyze, and optimize hundreds of thousands of these assets all over the world. We help organizations be safer, improve efficiency, and cut costs.
“This solution has more than helped cut costs and increase productivity and safety. The data and reports we receive provides our team with more knowledge than we ever knew possible.”
Tony Hoffman
Driver Advocate/Manager,
WP Rawl
Walter P. Rawl & Sons is a multi-generational business that started as a local crop farm in the 1920s that has grown into a larger farm selling greens and specialty vegetables. It continues to operate as a “family farm” with twelve members still working in the business along with an additional 650 employees.
They rely on their own transportation fleet to offer dependable, overnight delivery to the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, and Deep South. This means delivery within hours instead of days. In addition to their dedicated fleet they also own a state-of-the-art distribution facility that allows for cross-docking and load consolidation.
To see that the business continues to thrive for future generations, Walter P. Rawl & Sons puts innovation and sustainability at the forefront of business while also giving back to the industry and continuing to live by the company motto “Our Business is Growing”.
As W.P. Rawl’s transportation fleet continued to grow alongside the business, their management team was tasked with finding a reliable and dedicated technology company that would provide monitoring and analyzation features. They were interested in not only increasing efficiencies and productivity on the road, but to simplify manual processes that left room for errors. After much research, Powerfleet was selected based on their customer reviews, wide range of features, and price.
Situation
WP Rawl has been continuing to grow demand and began to offer overnight deliveries to their customers. They were losing valuable time and money by manually logging day-to-day routes. The management began looking for ways to move more loads, increase profits, and cut down on communication time and tracking errors.
WP Rawl needed to optimize their fleet and was looking for a minute-by-minute visibility solution that could help manage its overall truck and driver performance.
Task
The following areas of concern were presented to Powerfleet to solve:
1. Compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation’s Electronic Logging Device (ELD) and Hours-of-Service (HoS) mandates
2. A solution that supports the Agricultural Exemption for HoS
3. Increase visibility throughout the supply chain
4. Improve fleet utilization times
5. Improve on-time delivery services for overnight deliveries
6. Reduce the need for manual processes for route planning
7. Increase communication capabilities between drivers and distribution centers
For WP Rawl, communication with their drivers is an absolute necessity. Knowing where drivers are on their route at any given time allows WP Rawl to provide accurate estimated arrival times to their customers and allows for better route tracking and planning. Without improving their visibility, they would quickly become inundated with orders which couldn’t be fulfilled in a timely fashion.
Action
After listening to the customer’s needs, the Powerfleet team provided immediate support by equipping WP Rawl trucks with ELDs, which improved the monitoring capabilities of the WP Rawls logistics team, improving the overall productivity of both the office and the fleet itself. WP Rawl was also able to increase communication between drivers and its distribution centers.
The Powerfleet solution provided:
Controller Area Network (CAN bus) metrics to improve billing, and service
Smooth integration with existing Automatic On-Board Recording Device (AOBRD) systems
Accurate and consistent data flow
Improved driver safety metrics by monitoring unsafe events such as “harsh breaking”
Agricultural exemption features
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) grants exceptions from the HoS rules for the transportation of certain agricultural commodities within a 150-mile radius. Powerfleet’s Ag Exempt feature in the ELD creates smooth reporting for drivers, allows them to receive status updates, and provide management with tracking for all Ag Exempt loads under FMCSA required guidelines.
Additionally, Powerfleet provided tablets that feature a simplified data input that allows drivers to communicate with the office while reducing the reliance on their cell phones.
“One of the reasons we partnered with Powerfleet is because of the opportunity to grow with their evolving systems. The tablet is a great example of that. In the near future, we plan to optimize the use of the tablet with our team of drivers. Currently, our drivers do not have a company email because not all have access through their phone. With the help of the Powerfleet tablet, it will give our drivers a direct line of communication with the team in the office or to their families back home” said Tony Hoffman, Driver Advocate/Manager, WP Rawl.
Results
With the help of Powerfleet, WP Rawl achieved the following results:
Simpler reporting and reduced data input, allowing drivers to focus on their load
Real-time tracking and delivery updates
Increased productivity
Improved maintenance schedules to keep the fleet rolling
Improved compliance with the HoS mandate
“This solution has more than helped cut costs and increase productivity and safety. The data and reports we receive provides our team with more knowledge than we ever knew possible. Idling time, engine run time, duration of high acceleration, fuel consumption, and the number of harsh braking events are just a few off that list. Each of those contributes to saving costs, increasing productivity, and keeping our drivers safe,” said Hoffman.
“Across the board, reporting is much simpler,” Hoffman continued. “It has reduced the amount of data input that was once the driver’s responsibility and allows them to focus on their load. Hours of Service reporting has given us the ability to strategically assign more loads, increase driving time, and receive delivery information in real-time. Communication with our customers has greatly improved as we are now able to give minute by minute reports on where our drivers are and what’s happening with the load.”
Conclusion
While the original concern was to maintain compliance with the ELD and HoS mandates, Powerfleet’s solution provided a better overall level of efficiency for WP Rawl and improved communication and visibility throughout the supply chain. Because the implementation of the new technology was easy to adapt to WP Rawl’s current systems, the customer was able to continue operations smoothly while enjoying the benefits of markedly improved and automated processes. In addition, WP Rawl partnered with Powerfleet to take advantage of its new innovative solutions and product developments as WP Rawl’s business needs grow and evolve.
Powerfleet transforms the way organizations manage mobile business assets — like forklifts, cargo trailers, and connected cars. Our technologies control, track, analyze, and optimize hundreds of thousands of these assets all over the world. We help organizations be safer, improve efficiency, and cut costs.
Powerfleet provided access to important telemetry data and enhanced connectivity for a Pittsburgh-based mobility company with the mission to provide an efficient, alternative mode of transportation with an on-demand, zero-emission electric moped rental service. The Powerfleet team listened to what criteria was needed from the customer and determined that our Open Protocol Standards (OPS) data streaming solution, which offers a collection of scalable and secure data exchange options, could enable the customer to access device data quickly and efficiently to meet their business needs.
Situation
The customer recently acquired a fleet of electric mopeds equipped with telematics devices that were integrated with a custom software application, which was not included in the acquisition. This left a huge gap in their business model as the data collected by the devices provided critical operational metrics needed to run their business. In addition, cellular service for the devices was due to be shut off within 30 days of being contracted.
With the mopeds essentially inoperable, and only 30 days to collect valuable telemetry from the existing devices, the customer turned to Powerfleet for help.
Task
The following areas of concern were presented to Powerfleet to solve:
Ability to access data from current devices on the mopeds
Integration of new mopeds and raw data into the customer’s current Fleet Management System (FMS)
Improve overall data transfers with relevant telemetry such as GPS location, odometer, maintenance information, and battery charge percentage
Make it all happen within 30 days
Overall, the customer relies on Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to help them gain visibility over their mobile assets. They need visibility of where their rented assets are located, battery life information, and maintenance information so they can get more efficiencies out of their operations, maintain accurate billing, increase security or, in the worst case, recover their mopeds. Without this information, they can’t put mopeds into their rental service because they would have no way to accurately bill customers or know where mopeds are located if they need to go get them.
Action
Powerfleet provided immediate support in providing cellular connectivity, device reprogramming, and the reverse-engineering of these metrics previously being captured by the custom software application. In addition, Powerfleet provided a highly scalable data streaming connection that allowed all of these metrics to flow directly to the customer’s backend solution using MQTT (a standard messaging protocol for the IoT).
Powerfleet’s implementation of software included:
Access to mission critical metrics to enable billing automation, and fleet management services
Reverse engineered raw vehicle Controller Area Network (CAN bus) data (previously being parsed by predecessor’s software) within the limited time frame
Integration with existing systems
Real-time accurate and consistent data flow
MQTT transfer protocols for enhanced IoT capabilities
Results
The customer’s newly acquired electric mopeds are now able to send invaluable data such as location, ignition status, diagnostics, and over 20 CAN bus-related metrics. The CAN bus-related metrics provide critical data that provides accurate billing, inventory management, maintenance of the mopeds, and provide better overall customer experience and service. In addition to the direct savings, the customer was able to prevent lost revenue by the mopeds that wouldn’t have been put in service.
“For us, time was of the essence as we were on the verge of losing visibility on our newly acquired equipment when we initiated collaboration with Powerfleet. What we find impressive is Powerfleet’s ability to have implemented everything we wanted within a tight deadline, be it providing connectivity or the system reprogramming. This saved us a lot of trouble with potential idling of our equipment,” said the CEO at Customer Company
Conclusion
In less than 30 days, Powerfleet was able to provide new SIM cards, a competitive cellular connectivity plan, and professional services to assist in reverse engineering raw data into the required metrics for the customer’s operational needs. Additionally, Powerfleet assisted with the setup of the OPS solution using MQTT, a cutting-edge IoT data transfer protocol, to stream data directly to the customer’s backend FMS platform.
Powerfleet transforms the way organizations manage mobile business assets — like forklifts, cargo trailers, and connected cars. Our technologies control, track, analyze, and optimize hundreds of thousands of these assets all over the world. We help organizations be safer, improve efficiency, and cut costs.
Blackburns Chimney Services started looking for an asset monitoring solution after one of their utility trailers was stolen. In addition to the cost of the physical trailer, the company had to replace all the expensive equipment and tools in the utility trailer at the time. Despite having security cameras on premise, they had no way to monitor their vehicles, track their assets in real-time and also have a way to quickly be alerted if the asset was moved during non-working hours or stolen.
[help]
Kavak
Kavak’s CFO share his experience working with Powerfleet and the value received.
[help]
Church Transportation
Church Transportation was having an issue with reliable visibility of their trailers which resulted in trailers going missing or being misappropriated by their customers as storage units. While they conducted physical asset checks, these were infrequent and time-consuming. Between yard checks, drivers and other employees manually tracked the company’s assets, which was not only prone to human error but also consumed valuable labor hours that could have been better utilized elsewhere.
[help]
Walter P. Rawl and Sons, Inc.
WP Rawl has been continuing to grow demand and began to offer overnight deliveries to their customers. They were losing valuable time and money by manually logging day-to-day routes. The management began looking for ways to move more loads, increase profits, and cut down on communication time and tracking errors.
WP Rawl needed to optimize their fleet and was looking for a minute-by-minute visibility solution that could help manage its overall truck and driver performance.
[help]
Electric Moped Rideshare Company
The customer recently acquired a fleet of electric mopeds equipped with telematics devices that were integrated with a custom software application, which was not included in the acquisition. This left a huge gap in their business model as the data collected by the devices provided critical operational metrics needed to run their business. In addition, cellular service for the devices was due to be shut off within 30 days of being contracted.
With the mopeds essentially inoperable, and only 30 days to collect valuable telemetry from the existing devices, the customer turned to Powerfleet for help.
[help]
Lift Truck Telematics & Distribution Operations
Powerfleet® removed risk factors and applied enforceable safety
measures for a large food manufacturing company. Each location
received technologically advanced and easily implemented processes
for worker safety and vehicle tracking. Powerfleet®’s advanced telematics digitize tracking, enabling management at any location
to monitor vehicle use and employee habits. This eliminated guesswork, provided accountability and created a new system of checks and
balances for measurable results. The company saw results in terms of a 70% decrease in accidents, an 80% decrease in damages and several hundred thousand dollars in cost savings.
[help]
Global Manufacturer Telematics & Analytics
A global manufacturer needed solutions for heavy manufacturing processes. These occurred in five separate locations and used about 800 vehicles, including lift trucks, tow tractors and man lifts. They needed solutions that would improve safety in material handling operations, protect workers and reduce costs.
[help]
Forklift Telematics & Analytics
A leader in global automaking found themselves in need of improved safety measures and material handling operations. The company adheres to the highest safety standards but their ongoing self-monitoring processes indicated a need for improvement. The need extended to personnel training, systems implementation, systems management, authorization processes and equipment use monitoring.
[help]
Trailer Management Systems Boost Revenue, Save >$1 Million for 3PL
[help]
Forklift Analytics Cut Damage Costs 85%
Five years ago, a leading multinational food & beverage company deployed I.D. Systems’ Powerfleet® forklift telematics system to improve material handling safety. The project was a big success. Based on its initial return on investment (ROI), the Company rolled out Powerfleet on more than 2,500 pieces of material handling equipment across almost 100 of its food and beverage manufacturing and distribution sites in North America.But with more than $60 million invested in its material handling fleet—and a labor cost of over $200 million to run that fleet—the Customer wanted to find out if Powerfleet could save it even more money.
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