Township of Lakewood improves maintenance and promotes safety with Reveal

The Public Works Department for the Township of Lakewood, New Jersey, went from using an outdated radio communication system to the all-in-one Verizon Connect Reveal fleet management platform to help increase visibility, promote safe driving and streamline vehicle maintenance.

Director of Public Works Phil Roux trusted the easy-to-use Reveal system to help him manage the roads, parks and sanitation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. “During the height of COVID, supervisors and employees were working split shifts. The supervisors were still able to track the fleet’s progress on the live map and call in to give direction from any location. We could get work done in a timely manner with less employees.”

The challenge: A need for updated technology

Roux knew Lakewood needed better technology than the basic radio communication system they were using, which was often down and causing disruption to their fleet operations. They wanted an efficient system to track their vehicles, reduce downtime, hold their drivers accountable and help resolve disputes with citizens.

The solution: Better fleet visibility and less wasted time

Reveal helps Roux better manage his fleet and increase worker productivity. Roux said, “It saves a lot on wasted time. Before we had a tracking system, drivers could find different areas to take extended breaks without anyone knowing. With Reveal, no one is able to do that anymore.” Lakewood uses Reveal vehicle tracking along with an easy-to-use integration to help with maintenance scheduling, dispatching and vehicle uptime. Roux said, “I expect to get longer life on the vehicles with Reveal.” They also use breadcrumb trails and reporting to help see the work needs to be done. Roux said, “We operate 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, and so we can see where second or third shift was the day before. We know where they left off and if we need to finish a route. We can see the route that trucks took and know which part of town is left to do.”

The results: Better maintenance scheduling and safe drivers

Roux is extremely happy with how much the Reveal open API has helped them improve vehicle maintenance. “Verizon Connect updates mileage in the integrated Fleetio software every 24 hours, so it makes scheduling maintenance a lot easier with accurate miles. And it helps for dispatching. If we have a failure somewhere, I know exactly where the vehicles are. Verizon Connect is a big help.” Safety is also top of mind for Roux. With Reveal in place, Lakewood has the tools they need to run a safe, productive fleet. “I would say definitely we have seen the results we expected from Reveal, especially in driver safety,” Roux said. “Alerts for things like speeding and fast acceleration help out tremendously. They make everyone more aware that they are seen and tracked, and it helps us know if something happened to a driver on the road.”

With the vehicles being tracked, the drivers know they need to do their jobs in a safe manner, but they also have an ally when citizens call in with complaints. With Reveal, Roux was able to prove his workers did their jobs.

“We had a few areas where people were saying that they hit potholes, but Reveal showed that we were there and patched the holes the day before,” said Roux. “Another time, a guy said we hit his car, but I knew which two trucks were in the area, so I knew the car wasn’t hit by one of our trucks. With Verizon Connect, we were able to prove that we didn’t do it.” Having an advocate, the drivers now have more peace of mind to do their jobs efficiently, and the organization can uphold its reputation.

Migrating from an old system to new technology can be difficult, but the easy-to-use Reveal platform helps make the transition simple. Roux now has the tools he needs to promote driver safety, streamline maintenance and continue improving life for the citizens of the Township of Lakewood.

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