Frontier Technologies: Managing data to find results

Frontier Technologies is a Maritime-owned and operated company based out of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. They help provide support and technical expertise to many Canadian telecommunications and security companies.

The Challenge: Using fleet data to their advantage

Frontier Technologies has used the Geotab solution for the past 15 years, and wanted to advance their use of their telematics data to boost company efficiency, safety and profitability.

The fleet manager for Frontier Technologies explains, “We wanted a solution that would monitor every day operations like maintenance, fuel consumption and driver safety rules such as seat-belt use, speeding and idling.”

Frontier Technologies knows first-hand how important data is in running a fleet operation and was determined to get it right.

The Solution: Gaining efficiency in data reporting and analysis

The Frontier Technologies fleet consists of about 90 cargo vans. Most of the vehicles are from 2014 and 2015, so having accurate data about fuel costs, speeding and maintenance needs are crucial to maximizing uptime.

“We’re detail oriented,” the fleet manager explains. “We try to use every penny we can find for safety and sustainability.”

MyGeotab reports support data-driven decision-making

With the help of a new Geotab Reseller, Frontier Technologies was able to consolidate reporting, giving them the kind of insights they needed to make operational and business decisions. Fleet management reports used include:

• Driving metrics, including speeding and harsh cornering
• Location, including no-go zones
• First and last trip
• Idling reports
• Time spent at the warehouse versus productive time

Keeping drivers safe with telematics

The Frontier Technologies team now have better insights into the operation and can more easily keep drivers accountable and vehicles running. For example, with the consolidated speeding report, they now know who was speeding and when the event occurred.

Even more important is that with better handling of the data, drivers are safer.

“We know where everybody is,” the fleet manager says. “If there’s an accident, we can tell within a few feet where it was.”

Geotab is easy-to-use

On top of having access to the data they need, Frontier Technologies finds the Geotab solution is easy-to-use. This makes the management of the fleet’s 90 vehicles, which are dispersed from Vancouver to Newfoundland, easy to handle for the company’s two fleet managers.

There are three reasons why the company has stuck with Geotab for the past 15 years. It is because the solution offers:

• Simplicity
• Ease of use
• Accuracy

The Results: Cutting costs through data management

Getting a handle on Frontier Technologies’ fleet data has had significant benefits:

• Decreased speeding from 150 to 50 events per month per technician.
• Improved driver safety scores and decreased tickets.
• Reduced the company’s carbon footprint, cutting CO2 emissions by 8%.
• Lowered fleet maintenance costs by over $325 per vehicle, from $995 per vehicle in 2017 to $667 per vehicle for an overall savings of $14,000.

With an aging fleet, companies can expect to see maintenance costs to rise, but Frontier Technologies has seen the opposite. “It has freed up money spent on the fleet for other priorities,” says the fleet manager.

But using Geotab is not just about making Frontier Technologies’ drivers more accountable. It also offers a significant benefit in making employee compensation — which is based on factors like driving behavior, timeliness and time at the job, to name a few — more accurate. This means technicians can be confident that their bonuses are calculated correctly.

By having a better understanding of its data, Frontier Technologies now has clear knowledge about every aspect of its operation. The result is a win-win-win for clients, drivers and the company.

“If you use Geotab, you can get these results, too,” says the fleet manager.

From the Fleet Manager

“The Geotab solution has greatly impacted our business expenses by making our fleet more efficient. Knowing where and how our technicians are driving has benefited us greatly in terms of safety and accountability, such as speeding, idling, harsh cornering and braking.”

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