3 Sisters Logistics: Increasing safety, reducing insurance premiums by 30%

3 Sisters Logistics is a women-owned trucking company based in Teutopolis, Illinois that provides crushed limestone, gravel, sand and other specialized hauling to southern-central areas of the state. They are a relatively small fleet, with 35 dump trucks in total.

Results at a glance:

• Reduced insurance premiums by $45,000 – down 30% overall
• Fleet-wide adoption of GO devices and Surfsight cameras
• Cleared of liability following collision using undeniable video evidence
• Overall increased fleet visibility

The challenge: Lack of technology leads to a lack of overall visibility

Leslie Tarble, President and Co-Owner of 3 Sisters Logistics, found the lack of technology was creating widespread challenges in high-impact areas of the business.

“Not having visibility into the location of the equipment made it difficult and cumbersome for our dispatcher to efficiently dispatch trucks throughout the day,” she says. The only way their dispatcher knew a driver was finished with their current task and could take on a new one was entirely dependent on the driver radioing in to give them the update.

Tarble was also concerned about the safety of her drivers on the road. Without cameras, they weren’t able to prove that their drivers were avoiding risky driving behaviors and prioritizing safety on the road. This made it hard to manage rising insurance premiums, identify drivers who needed additional training and prove no-fault when it came to collisions. Additionally, Tarble’s drivers were skeptical about the addition of cameras, fearing that they would invade their privacy.

As a small business that is somewhat tech-averse, 3 Sisters Logistics was also looking for a high level of support. Tarble needed a reliable external team to coach them through implementation, take on troubleshooting when they needed help, research additional products and be a solid resource for all things telematics.

The solution: Setting the foundation for continued growth and savings

Tarble found what she and the 3 Sisters team needed in Argos, an authorized Geotab reseller.

“ [Argos] walked us through the offerings to address what we were looking for immediately and provided us with solutions for other issues we were looking to address,” she says. “They allowed us to trial devices before fully committing the entire fleet as well.”

They decided to put Geotab GO devices in their fleet of dump trucks and eventually decided to invest in dash cams supplied by Surfsight, a Geotab Marketplace Partner. They use MyGeotab software to track and dispatch their vehicles and say that it was an intuitive system right from day one. Tarble says, “Our dispatcher is self-proclaimed ‘terrible with computers’ and he only needed a brief demo of the website. He’s setting up geofences and alerts without any issue!”

Argos has also continued to impress Tarble and her team – “They sold us on [...] their knowledge of the product and quick responses – and they have delivered!” – notably with reporting, research of any Add-ons or technology they might need, regular follow ups and quick responses when they have any device issues.

The results: 

A $45,000 yearly savings on insurance premiums – and more

So far, 3 Sisters Logistics has had no shortage of results since their Geotab implementation with Argos.

After installing just the GO devices for the first year, they not only had more visibility on where their drivers were through GPS capabilities, they also saved $27,000 on their insurance premium increase. Having this added visibility into their on-road operations was enough to convince their insurance company that they were actively tracking the safe driving habits and behaviors of their drivers. Following the success of their first year, they decided to use Geotab Marketplace Partner Surfsight to add another layer of security by investing in dash cams. 

Although their drivers were reluctant at first, the dash cams have been a welcome addition to their fleet. They’ve saved even more on their insurance in year two, bringing the total to a whopping $45,000. This adds up to a 30% decrease from their initial insurance premium increase. Their drivers have also noted that they feel more confident with the cameras – they know they aren’t going to be falsely accused of any reckless behavior on the road and are confident that the 3 Sisters team will defend them with video proof should any claim come through.

The team has also been able to gamify their fleet safety initiative using Geotab’s Driver Safety Scorecard feature. By tracking and reporting on the safety habits of their drivers, they are able to offer counsel to drivers who are consistently lower on the list while shouting out and offering additional advantages to the drivers who are routinely top performers.

Surfsight cameras in action

Tarble recently found out just how crucial their camera investment was when they were dealing with an on-road incident. In this particular case, one of their drivers swerved to avoid hitting a pickup truck that entered into their lane, rolling the dump truck as a result. No one was hurt, but when authorities were called to the scene, Tarble and her team were able to offer immediate assistance in helping clear their – and their driver’s – name using their combination of telematics and cameras.

The dash cam footage, as well as a collision reconstruction report outlining where each vehicle was at the time of the incident, was emailed to the police officer at the scene as well as their insurance company within two hours of the incident. “After the officer saw the video, he commented that our driver saved this kid’s life,” says Tarble of her driver’s decision to swerve out of the way to avoid collision. In this particular instance, the onboard Surfsight camera played a pivotal role in clearing up the incident, helping the company avoid further liability. 

She also says that, because of the scorecard system, she was able to validate her driver’s safe driving record to further substantiate that they did the right thing  – “This particular driver is regularly the number one safest driver and regularly scores over 99% on the scorecard, [...] we knew before even seeing the video that this accident had to have been unavoidable.”

The next steps: More cameras, more safety initiatives, more savings

When asked what’s next for the 3 Sisters Logistics relationship with Geotab, Surfsight and Argos, Tarble says they are looking to add driver-facing cameras in the future. Their drivers’ quick adoption of cameras and the almost instantaneous success they have seen with cameras so far has made Tarble want to explore different avenues where they could offer more support to the fleet. Additionally, they want to continue to seek out opportunities for increased safety through Geotab’s Safety Center and gain even more visibility through Geotab’s Active Insights.