BC Sands covers a lot of ground, both figuratively and literally. Operating with a fleet of 27 vehicles, the business delivers aggregates, soils, pebbles, and mulch across Sydney. The success of BC Sands depends on keeping those trucks always operating safely and efficiently, so that they can make deliveries to a diverse range of customers.
Working with Bestrane, BC Sands uses Geotab fleet telematics solutions to ensure the safety of its staff, as well as helping to eliminate bad driving, which can contribute to vehicle depreciation.
"We knew that Geotab would be an ideal fit for BC Sands. Its plug-and-play nature, combined with its ability to work across any fleet type, meant it could provide immediate value."
– Chris Mason, COO, Bestrane.
Since it started using Geotab’s solutions, BC Sands has:
- Improved its Driver Safety Scorecard
- Seen a decrease of 45% in fleet occurrences of hard acceleration, harsh braking, harsh cornering, and speeding.
The challenge: visibility over driver behaviour
BC Sands had used telematics devices before but found that the drivers often unplugged them. Mark Parsons, Managing Director, BC Sands, said that they often ended up “pointing at the ground” or unplugged and not in use at all.
The growing fleet is home to a diverse range of vehicles which has been a key driver of the business. Ranging from tippers that can fit down an average driveway, through to 21-metre-long crane trucks, BC Sands needed a telematics solution that could work with any manufacturer, and a variety of vehicle types.
With safety top of mind, Mark committed to improving the safety of his growing fleet and looked to Bestrane to implement Geotab’s telematics solutions.
The solution: improving safety and rewarding driver behaviour
BC Sands can now monitor everything from maintenance indicators such as the use of water and oil pressure, to fuel consumption.
However, it is Geotab’s safety solutions that might be most valuable to BC Sands. Before he worked with Bestrane to implement Geotab’s fleet management solutions, Mr Parsons had no insight into the behaviour of his drivers after they left the lot for a delivery. But it is a very different story since implementing Geotab.
"The benefit of camera solutions integrated with Geotab is that they provide safety on both sides of the driving wheel. Importantly for the drivers themselves, the ability to monitor fatigue and observe their actions within the cab has repeatedly proven to be very powerful."
– Chris Mason, COO, Bestrane.
“We get information about harsh cornering, harsh braking, harsh acceleration, and if the driver is wearing a seatbelt and not wearing a seatbelt. So, the Geotab solution provides information on that, which is gold to a management team that wants to reward drivers that do the right thing and coach and mentor some of the drivers that aren't doing the right thing.”
– Mark Parsons, MD, BC Sands
The device can even record whether someone has been smoking in the cabin of the truck, which is important from an occupational health and safety perspective.
The camera units can’t be unplugged, which ensures that they are always in use, ensuring better transparency, especially if any drivers have an incident during a delivery.
“You can look at the information that comes back on the video and say, ‘well, actually, sorry, Mr. Driver, but you actually drove in front of our truck and our truck driver did not move in your lane.”
– Mark Parsons, MD, BC Sands
Impact: safer driving and lower costs
Mark says since he installed the units, driver safety has improved. And the Geotab devices have given him the numbers to back up those claims.
- Better safety overall: BC Sands Driver Safety Scorecard increased from 86.6 to 89.7 over two years up to March 2024.
- Better driving practices: That does not sound like much, but it equates to a decrease of 45% in fleet occurrences of hard acceleration, harsh braking, harsh cornering, and speeding.
Better safety is a positive result on its own, but Mark says it is also good for business, because vehicles that are driven in a safe manner tend to have lower maintenance costs.
“There is just so much data that you can get and I think as far as some of the competitors go, they were limited on what information you could get. The breadth and depth of the data is gold. As you get that information back from Geotab, there is so much you can do with it.”
– Mark Parsons, MD, BC Sands
The next steps: more devices in more vehicles
BC Sands is enthusiastic about Geotab and the possibilities it offers. The company already uses Geotab’s latest telematics devices in their vehicles and plans to install these units into any new vehicles the company acquires. Once Geotab releases new devices, Mark will be keeping a close eye on its capabilities and features.
“The more you know about what your fleet is doing, the more knowledge you have got to make decisions that can streamline driver behaviour. The more information we have got to help our drivers, the more we can help them get the best out of themselves they can.”
– Mark Parsons, MD, BC Sands
Through Bestrane’s partnership and Geotab’s innovative telematics solutions, BC Sands has not only improved safety on the road but also created a culture of rewarding good driving behaviour, setting a new standard for fleet management in the industry.
Bestrane is headquartered in Melbourne, and brings together a unique combination of solutions, services and technologies to solve complex problems for our customers. We are authorised resellers of Geotab, Ltyx SurfSight and other AI powered solutions.
Discover how fleet assurance solutions can lead to a significant step forward in driver safety and contact us today.
