Technology infrastructure company coaches road safety with smart fleet management solutions

Nextier Infrastructure Solutions is a Georgia-based company providing engineering, installation and project management solutions for customers in the telecom, broadband, IT and cellular industries. Nextier crews dig the trenches, bore the tunnels and thread the fiber that allows businesses, schools, government agencies and others to stay connected with the latest communications technology.

At the heart of these efforts is a concern for safety. All that digging invites danger from hidden gas, water and live power lines. Protecting employees and the public from accidents is a top priority for Nextier, and that mission is emphasized at monthly staff safety meetings.

“We have a pretty good size safety program,” said Michael Crump, Senior Manager of Business Operations at Nextier. “It’s all hands at our monthly meetings, and every week they have a toolbox talk within the crews themselves.” 

Nextier’s safety concerns extend to the roadway, where the company deploys a fleet of more than 50 trucks and 30 pieces of rolling powered equipment for jobs throughout the state of Georgia. Tracking the location of vehicles and equipment and knowing how they’re being operated and maintained is essential to Nextier’s ability to get the job done safely and improve the longevity of its expensive assets.

That’s why Crump and the Nextier team lean on a fleet management platform that not only tracks the location of vehicles and equipment in the field, but also supplies video and data that help mitigate auto accident liability concerns and promote a culture of safe driving—Verizon Connect Reveal with Integrated Video.

Saving time while collecting critical data

In his operations role for Nextier, Crump wears a lot of hats. He has responsibilities related to company assets, fleet, supply chain, accounting and other areas of the business. Monitoring the locations of the company’s vehicles and the way they are operated is a big task and needs to be managed well so it doesn’t take up all of his time.

“It’s part of my job, but it’s not all of my job,” Crump said.

Still, when a Nextier manager wants to confirm the arrival and location of a crew in the field, they come to Crump for answers, “Because if we call someone and they’re on a heavy piece of equipment, they’re probably not going to answer,” Crump said. “We need to remember that they’re working, too.”

Crump needs a quick, easy way to track the location of the company’s vehicles in the field. He also is responsible for keeping the 50-vehicle fleet operational, so knowing when regular service is scheduled for each truck is crucial.

Road safety comes into play when the company’s technicians are traveling between jobs. Crump needs to be alerted when one of the drivers is operating a company vehicle unsafely, and in the case of an accident, he needs all the information possible to mitigate any liability concerns. 

For Crump, it’s all part of improving operations and promoting a safety-first culture for the technicians in the field.

“In order to do their job, they have to be able to drive. So, it’s important to them not to get dinged, because if they can’t drive, they can’t work,” he said. “Sometimes drivers need coaching.”

Fleet management tools deliver powerful data

To keep fleet operations running smoothly and safely, Crump and the Nextier team rely on Verizon Connect Reveal with Integrated Video provided by outward-facing AI dashcams.

Verizon Connect Reveal is an intuitive, cloud-based fleet-management system that delivers a near-real-time, 360-degree view of a fleet’s daily operations. Reveal is designed to help reduce costs and increase productivity.

The GPS tracking, high-resolution maps and easy-to-use dashboard of Reveal allow Crump and a few other Nextier managers to keep track of the company’s fleet of trucks and other mobile assets in the field. Reveal also gathers data on how the vehicles are being operated, and keeps digital maintenance records for every vehicle in the fleet.

Crump has embraced several of the tools offered by the software, including:

• Live maps for visibility into the fleet’s location and movements
• Powered asset tracking to better manage wear and tear on heavy-duty equipment
• Forward-facing, integrated dashcams for video to help mitigate risk and debunk liability claims in the event of a “he said, she said” accident
• Alerts for unsafe or harsh driving (speeding, quick starts, long stops, etc.) to inform drivers and help them develop safer driving habits
• Reports for each vehicle covering activity, safety, fuel consumption and maintenance
• Driver Coaching to gain insights and assess any unsafe habits of Nextier’s drivers and foster a culture of safety and accountability

Using the Driver Coaching feature in Reveal, Crump is alerted to the most common harsh-driving instances for each Nextier driver. From there, he can click on the “Needs Coaching” tab to review data and video and add notes in advance of coaching sessions with individual drivers.

Nextier also pairs Verizon Connect Reveal with Fleetio, a fleet management software, to manage their asset life cycles, maintenance program, and report on their total cost of ownership. Fleetio’s integration allows Reveal users to sync daily odometer readings and engine hours, engine-fault codes, and vehicle location data automatically in their account to trigger preventative maintenance reminders and troubleshoot potential vehicle issues in real-time. By automating this data, large fleets can save countless hours manually tracking these metrics and increase time spent making improvements to their operation.

Video evidence quickly turns the tables

Crump said the availability of video footage from the dashcams has proven to be more than worth the investment the company has made in fleet management.

“It’s saved us quite a few times,” Crump said, citing one specific incident where a false claim of liability was debunked and thousands of dollars in insurance costs saved thanks to readily available dashcam video.  

“When the other driver’s insurance company called me because their driver said it was our fault, we knew better because we had the video,” Crump said. “We can show them the video and some of the data, and they are like, ‘OK, let us know where we can send the check.’ It turns the tables right away.”

For Crump, Verizon Connect Reveal is a time-saver because he knows the system is working even when he’s not monitoring it directly.

“I’m never going to be a guy who is able to sit and stare at it,” he said. “But it’s one of the most important parts of my job, and it really doesn’t take up as much time because it’s always kind of on in the background. It may need to pepper me with alerts before I start looking, but I can look over the entire fleet quickly when I need to know where they are.”

Crump emphasized that Nextier’s safety culture is supported by Reveal not only by pointing out unsafe driving, but also by reinforcing good behavior and tracking a driver’s habits as they improve.

“When I pass somebody in the hall after seeing they’ve had absolutely zero bad reports, I might give ’em an attaboy,” he said. “It’s easy to reprimand somebody, and you’re going to have some of that. But I think it’s even better to mention it when they’re doing well to keep it on their minds.”