ConnectedOps Visionaries

Fuel prices are surging – rising higher each day. A number of factors are contributing to the increasing cost of oil, and the net result is the highest gas prices on record. With prices at a 14-year high, it’s hard to imagine paying even more at the pump, but all signs say we will. For the fleet industry, that fuel-pump pain is multiplied by the number of vehicles you operate. And these surging fuel prices threaten the health and profitability of your business. You can’t change the price of fuel, but you can lessen its impact on your operation. In today’s episode,  host John Carione shares six tips to help you beat the fuel price surge.

Gary Williams, Manager of Business Transformation and Operational Excellence at Liberty Coke, joins us to talk about using data to identify opportunities to streamline operational efficiency. Gary discusses his recent initiative to reduce idle time across Liberty Coke’s fleet of vehicles. To complete the project, required extensive data analysis to identify the root cause of excessive idle time across vehicle types, and ongoing driver involvement to gain full context, define an effective new process, and gain buy-in. With hundreds of vehicles on the road every day, the initiative has the potential to reduce Liberty Coke’s carbon footprint by 15-20% and save hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel expense each year.Listen in and learn how Gary addressed the challenges and uncovered the insight needed to develop and roll out a new process, positively impacting safety, sustainability and fuel savings.

When you’re responsible for the efficient operation of a growing fleet, figuring out how to get more done in less time is critical. It’s never been more true – time is your scarcest resource. The good news? There are concrete steps you can take to reclaim hours in your work week. By cutting the inefficiency out of the tasks and reports that you repeat regularly – some of them, daily – you’ll save countless hours. That’s time you can apply directly to higher-value activities that improve the bottom line of your business.Automation is the key, because every minute spent chasing down fuel cost or mileage so you can accurately bid a new job, scrambling to put a contingency plan in place because of unexpected vehicle downtime, or sifting through hours of dash cam video to find the few frames that will exonerate your driver, is all time spent not making your business more agile, profitable or customer-centric. We’ve talked to thousands of fleet safety and operations managers, and in today’s episode you’ll learn 5 best practices that will save you time, allowing you to work on your business instead of your fleet. 

Discovering the need to expand your fleet is great news; it means your business is growing. But each time you add a vehicle, your costs increase as well. You’re adding to your insurance premiums. More drivers on the road means greater chances of an accident – along their associated costs and liability. And there’s increased fuel and maintenance expenses to consider.On the surface, it sounds daunting – especially if your business centers on delivering a service and your fleet is simply a means to reach your customers and not a core part of your mission. But with a straightforward plan – a plan informed by the data already flowing through your business – it doesn’t have to be daunting at all. In today’s episode, you’ll learn top hacks to cut costs while growing your fleet so you can cut the unnecessary expense out of your operation and maximize the profit that hits your bottom line.Ready to take action on your cost-cutting plan? Download a short eBook that will help you get started: info.intellishift.com/cut-costs 

If your business depends on mobile workers and fleets of vehicles to deliver your products and services, accident and damage claims are inevitable – even with the best safety program in place. And while studies show that in the overwhelming number of crashes involving a car and truck, the commercial driver is not at fault, they’re often blamed. False liability claims harm your drivers’ records, they lower your CSA score and result in excessive legal and insurance payouts. Learn the 6 key pieces of evidence you need in order to build a case to exonerate your drivers – and your brand.You can download a short ebook that captures this information at: info.intellishift.com/exoneration

Joe Torrente, Director of Transportation at the NJ-based field services business at Stavola, joins us for an in-depth conversation about the challenges he faced while trying to navigate disconnected paper-based processes, a lack of safety monitoring, and a complicated range of construction, asphalt, and recycling equipment. His experience illustrates the difficult transformation emerging companies undergo as their fleet of vehicles and assets grows. In the conversation, we talk about the underlying causes of common fleet operations inefficiencies – and how Joe has overcome them to gain back hours of time in his day, and cut costs to drive profit to the company’s bottom line. 

Optimizing safety is a top priority for fleet-driven businesses, and a tremendous responsibility for fleet and safety managers. It takes full visibility – on and off the road – to keep drivers safe, ensure compliance with company safety policies and regulatory requirements, reduce accidents and violations (and their associated legal and insurance cost implications), and protect the business and brand reputation. Fortunately, new artificial intelligence (AI) technology can help fleet-driven businesses achieve all of these goals. Today, host John Carione outlines the importance of AI video dash cameras to an effective fleet safety program, and shares how to maximize the return on your investment (ROI) in these next-generation dash cameras. You can download a short eBook that captures all of this information at: info.intellishift.com/maximize 

For years, fleet-driven businesses have watched the pool of available drivers shrink. The shortage is fueled by a number of factors, everything from younger workers coming into the industry at a lower rate than experienced drivers are leaving, to the amplifying impact of COVID-19.For businesses that depend on drivers to deliver goods and services, this trend can be crippling. Finding new drivers is a challenge – and recruiting and training is expensive. Today, host John Carione shares 7 ways you can increase driver retention and keep your fleet on the road.You can download a short guide that captures all of these ideas plus some pro tips at: https://info.intellishift.com/retention

Improving fleet safety takes more than the right metrics and technology – it takes engaged drivers. New technology like AI dash cams can be a game changer when it comes to hitting your fleet safety goals, but the technology will only get you so far. Some drivers will inevitably associate cameras with ‘Big Brother’ style surveillance. For your program to be successful, you’ve got to show your team the real-time reduction in driving risk and how the cameras serve as an impartial eyewitness that can exonerate them from false claims.Today, host John Carione shares 8 best practices for getting your drivers on board with AI video dash cameras. And to make it easy to put these practices to work today, you can download a short guide that contains all of these best practices plus some bonus pro tips to get you moving in the right direction. Download the guide at https://info.intellishift.com/best-practices-driver-buy-in 

Brian Kucharski, US Ecology’s Corporate Director of Transportation Compliance, joins us to talk about the company’s self-audit program (the Transportation Compliance Audit). The program helps ensure its fleet and its drivers are safe on the road and in compliance with company procedures and regulatory requirements – reducing accidents and violations. With more than a decade-long program history, the internal audit program is key to not only improving safety and compliance but in identifying best practices and innovations that individual drivers have created and US Ecology can implement across its broader fleet. 

Sri Srinivasan is global leader in IoT at Cisco. He shares the importance of bringing IT and OT (operations technology) together to solve the problems of disconnected operations and to remove the silos that hinder innovation and growth. He talks about how Cisco partners with industry tech leaders to find mission-critical integrated solutions and the need to give IT a bigger seat at the technology table.

Joe Gallitto joins us to talk about NY-based DJ Ambulette's digital transformation for their connected operations. Although the transformation started 5 years ago, it was integral to their ability to pivot in an unpredictable year and continue their mission to serve their community in new ways.

An early builder in the customer success space, Kristi Faltorusso (VP of Customer Success at IntelliShift) joins host John Carione to chat about how over 10 years ago Kristi came to be a part of the customer success "revolution" and how she expands this function from the traditional transactional "service" to a mutually beneficial and relationship-based "success" paradigm.