At BigRoad, we are driven by keeping our eyes honed-in on the future of the transportation industry. This focus is aided by the ability to work closely with some of most forward-thinking carriers in the industry.
Over the years, we have built some very strong relationships with companies that pride themselves on innovation in their respective fields. In the spirit of giving back, we’d like to share their success stories and show you some of the measures they have taken to improve safety and compliance in their companies.
Diamond Coach
Luxury coach operators, Diamond Coach, provide transportation services for the biggest names in entertainment. Their fleet consists of 54 Prevost coaches that offer every amenity a celebrity could hope for on the road.
Diamond Coach’s Director of Safety, Sarah Beth Imperi, is very attentive to compliance. When it comes to moving people who are under the constant glare of the media spotlight, Sarah Beth told us, “[We] .. have our records in order at all times, because the FMCSA is really starting to crack down on companies in our particular corner of the transportation industry.”
With the constantly changing landscape of rules and regulations, Diamond Coach found things very difficult. They found it a real struggle to keep up with the changes and stay on top of the paperwork required for log audits. Sarah Beth noted, “The amount of space that paper took up and the amount of time it took for someone to sift through that paper looking for log violations was astronomical,” also adding “It was just too much for one person to get done, and get done well in five days.”
A change was needed and they had to look for a solution that could be implemented across the whole company. What they required had to be both easy to learn and user-friendly. They looked at a number of different systems before making the jump over to electronic logging. At the recommendation of NASTC, they tried BigRoad and within weeks the company began using it.
The transition to electronic logs wasn’t all smooth sailing though. At first, some of their drivers where resistant to accept any change from their old paper logs. They even lost one driver who refused to change. After Diamond Coach ran a trial period, the sentiment changed and Sarah Beth reported that many of their drivers now say, “It’s the best thing that’s happened to their industry.”
One piece of advice she was keen to share about drivers who are reluctant to change was about the importance of educating yourself first; “Memorize it, have it down. It won’t take that long. It’s so easy; I can walk somebody through fixing something while I’m at the grocery store.”
Excel Petroleum
Excel Petroleum has been hauling petroleum around the Chicago area since 2000. Founded by Kevin and Julie Bulmann, they set out to form a company with strong corporate social responsibility and ethics.
Meeting some of their ethical values, Excel has built up a fleet of 24 state-of-the-art vehicles featuring some of the best fuel economy technologies available. The company is proud to call itself a “green fleet” and makes many efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.
President Kevin Bulmann, strongly believes that the personal wellbeing and safety of his drivers is of paramount importance. Not only does the company’s safety training exceed FMCSA requirements, they also allow their employees to earn up to a month off.
Although they have an exemplary safety track record, Safety Director Jason Lowry recognized,“It’s not just about safety in our industry. It is also about compliance.”
What Excel needed was a solution that could be used by their drivers to create an electronic paper trail; something they could use to document anything that happened on the road. Creating this paper trail would allow their drivers to document all their actions during a day, protecting them from any discrepancies.
Jason stated, “Electronic logs provide our drivers with the most advanced technology, and keeps everyone on the straight line. That’s good for our drivers, and it’s good for our business. All of our information related to hours of service (HOS) is accurately captured.”
All Excel trucks are equipped with a bottom sensor that verifies a trailer is fully loaded with fuel. When a driver arrives at a destination, they use BigRoad’s document capture feature to take photos of the sensor and the bill of lading. This is repeated at each stop the driver makes. Kevin explains, “If there’s any question at all about the delivery, we have a full breadcrumb trail.”
The guys at Excel love the flexibility of their smartphones. They feel that smartphones give them a lot more freedom and adaptability than found in a propriety system. When asking Kevin if he would recommend BigRoad to other businesses he simply said, “I’d urge any owner/operator not to hesitate. It truly can transform your business.”