BC Sands: Improving driver safety and rewarding good behaviour

BC Sands covers a lot of ground, both figuratively and literally. The business delivers aggregates, soils, pebbles and mulch across Sydney. The products can be delivered by the tonne in dump trucks to construction sites, or in small bags to front gardens.

A fleet of 27 vehicles is the backbone of the operation alongside its staff of over 100. It’s a versatile fleet, and it needs to be. The success of BC Sands depends on keeping those trucks operating safely and efficiently at all times, so that they can make deliveries to a diverse range of customers. 

Geotab’s solutions have helped BC Sands ensure the safety of its staff, as well as helping to eliminate bad driving, which can contribute to vehicle depreciation. BC Sands can also now monitor everything from maintenance indicators such as the use of water and oil pressure, to fuel consumption.

Since it started using Geotab’s solutions, BC Sands has also:

• 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 maintains a large fleet of diverse vehicles, ranging from tippers that can fit down an average driveway to 21-metre long crane trucks. This has been a key driver of the business, according to Mark Parsons, the Managing Director of BC Sands.

“We’ve been in business for decades, delivering materials to everyone and everything, from front yard projects to major work sites across Sydney.” – Mark Parsons, Managing Director, BC Sands

Mr Parsons wanted to improve the safety of his fleet, but he needed a telematics solution that could work with any manufacturer, and a variety of different vehicle types. 

BC Sands had used telematics devices before, but found that the drivers often unplugged them. MrParsons said they often ended up “pointing at the ground” or unplugged and not in use at all. 

The solution: improving safety and rewarding driver behaviour

Geotab’s telematics solutions are ideal, because they can be used on any vehicle, regardless of manufacturer. Using Geotab’s solutions, BC Sands can monitor everything from maintenance indicators such as the use of water and oil pressure to fuel consumption.  

However, it’s Geotab’s safety solutions that might be most valuable to BC Sands. Before implementing 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’s a very different story since implementing Geotab. 

“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 or not 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 doesn’t 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’s 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 very limited on what information you could get. I think 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, Mr Parsons 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’ve got to make decisions that can streamline driver behaviour. The more information we’ve got to help our drivers, the more we can help them get the best out of themselves they can.” – Mark Parsons, MD, BC Sands