Blue Septic Tank Service protects their vehicles, assets and drivers with Reveal

Being on-call 24/7, Blue Septic Tank Service needed a cost-efficient, easy-to-use fleet management solution to track their trucks, assets and maintenance. They chose Verizon Connect Reveal vehicle and equipment tracking with dashcams because the integrated solution was easy to learn and implement, and it could help them promote safety in addition to saving time and money.

Previously, Blue Septic Tank Service had multiple fleet systems that required extra time to input data into each one, which left room for errors. “We wanted to become more streamlined,” Vice President Aimee Gascon said. “That's why we chose Verizon Connect, because it will track your mileage and it'll track your fleet maintenance and it's all one program.”

The implementation process as well as learning the new system was simple. “Switching over from our previous GPS company to Reveal was seamless. It was very easy,” Aimee said. “Anybody can look at it and learn it in a very quick fashion.”

Fleet tech needed to protect and streamline their business

Blue Septic Tank Service needed a solution that could help protect their company and their drivers. “What actually initiated our search for dashcams were a couple of accidents that weren't our drivers’ fault,” Aimee explained. “However, no witnesses stuck around, so they became he-said she-said situations.”

The company relies on its specialty trucks, equipment and other vehicles to perform essential services throughout northern Florida. When sewers fail, pipes get backed up or tanks need to be emptied, they need their trucks and pumps ready to go quickly. Each missed job is missed revenue. Aimee said, “The assets, our major pumps, are upwards of $10,000. If we lose something like that or if we don't maintain it or if the pump doesn't turn on, we can't unload and that's thousands of dollars.”

Monitoring fuel usage recently became a major concern for them as well. “The cost of fuel is going up,” Aimee said. “So, we're constantly trying to figure out a way to improve our time spent out on the roads with better tracking.” She wanted a solution with in-depth reporting for fuel, but also data that could help with billing and compliance.

After learning about Reveal, Operations Manager Ryan Gascon recognized an opportunity to take advantage of a single platform to manage their entire fleet. “We need to get with the times, we need to get more integrated,” he said. “I see a lot of inefficiencies in the office as far as trying to track down written job tickets and trying to find customers that are past due. Reveal can help out and streamline processes a little bit better.”

Fleet insights and dashcams at an affordable price

Blue Septic Tank Service chose Reveal vehicle and asset tracking, along with Integrated Video dashcams to help streamline their business and make everyone’s job easier. “I can run the business from anywhere,” Aimee said. “If we are going home at five o’clock in the evening and I want to know where all of our drivers are at because they're not in yet, I'm able to do that from home with the app. And when we have emergency jobs, I'm able to track all of my drivers, and I don't have to be in the office.”

Ryan likes having access to the in-depth fleet data that Reveal gives him. “Being able to monitor engine hours in addition to mileage helps us take better care of our equipment and helps prolong the lifespan of the trucks,” he said. “We're really tracking our fuel to see what we can do to reduce the costs and try to get our routes set up. I also like the preventive maintenance reports and speeding report — seeing the harsh driving events keeps our drivers in check and helps them focus on safety.”

The convenience of a single platform and the affordability of Integrated Video was also a key selling point for the company. “We looked at different camera vendors, and some were too expensive and it was a separate system,” Aimee explained. “I'm all about keeping the same company, keeping everything in sync. I want one program to run everything. That was one reason that we ended up going with Verizon Connect. We also found that the dashcams were a lot more affordable for both forward-facing and driver-facing cameras.”

A single integrated platform that exceeds expectations

After a seamless implementation of Reveal, Blue Septic Tank Service has been extremely happy with the results and how easily it integrated into their current workflows. “We have one platform that we have to log in to and that's Verizon Connect Reveal,” Aimee said. “That gives us access to our GPS tracking devices, our fleet maintenance, our cameras and it gives us access now to scheduling, so we don't have to have multiple programs.” She also appreciates how easy it is to use, especially for routing vehicles. “We can get a better idea of where our trucks are going, we can schedule them more economically and we can get more jobs done in less time.”

Reveal has also given them a better sense of security, helping them protect their fleet. Aimee said, “The tracking devices are hardwired into the dash in an area where nobody can manipulate them.” She went on to explain how Reveal even helped them fight theft and save money on replacing a truck. “Our service truck was actually stolen. So we got on the computers, found it and told the police exactly where it was located. We were able to recover it within 24 hours.”

Details and insights are important to Ryan, and Reveal streamlines his job, giving him exactly what he needs. “When the driver gets to a job site, I can tell how long the driver was there and how long the power takeoff sensor was activated. That is all very useful information for keeping track of the drivers and their productivity.” He saves time and money by no longer needing to manage multiple fleet systems. He can easily pull reports from Reveal and quickly review his fleet data.

Being a jack-of-all-trades at Blue Septic Tank Service, Ryan fills in wherever he’s needed, including for drivers, and he appreciates what the dashcams do. “The dashcam gives me that sense of ease knowing that when I'm driving and I'm doing the right thing, I have a safety blanket if something were to happen that's out of my control. Having a camera showing exactly what happened and how it happened is beneficial to our protection and our safety.”

Aimee believes that having reliable dashcams for their drivers and their business is very important. “Verizon Connect dashcams are protecting our drivers,” Aimee said. “Unfortunately, in today's society, some people see dollars attached to big trucks, and they will actually cause an accident and then turn around and try to put you in a lawsuit. Those can become quite catastrophic.”

The company’s drivers understand this perspective and are very appreciative of the protection they get from the dashcams. “They know that we're not watching them. We're running a business,” Aimee said. “These cameras are to protect our assets and our drivers from being cited for at-fault accidents. We make sure that they're wearing their safety seatbelts and make sure that they're not distracted driving because we are driving big trucks and these trucks can hurt somebody, let alone kill them.”

Since implementing Integrated Video dashcams, they have already used video footage to discredit a false complaint. “We had someone call in and complain that our driver cut them off and then did an inappropriate hand gesture. And we were fortunately able to go back into the history of that truck and be able to see that the incident did not take place.”

Another benefit for Blue Septic Tank Service is that they can now stress out less about government regulations, because Reveal automatically records the data they need. “We’re able to track the drivers’ time more accurately,” Aimee said. “For compliance purposes, we can provide their start time, their idle time, their drive time. We're able to differentiate those for reporting DOT hours.”

Ryan even offered some advice for fleets who may be hesitant to add fleet management software like Reveal. “As a business owner and operator, I would definitely encourage others to get a program where they can track their fleet and maintain their vehicles. It's kind of a no-brainer as that extra safety blanket of protection in case there's an accident and your drivers aren't necessarily at fault. It just really helps in the long term.”