Reliable Fire & Security is a family-owned business dedicated to serving the needs of our industrial, institutional, commercial, fire departments, and the community. The company provides EMERGENCY SERVICE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in Alsip, Illinois for 67 years.

The company had a GPS vehicle tracking solution in place for many years. Their contract was coming up for renewal and the old 3G hardwired hardware needed to be upgraded. Dan Hurley, Operations Manager, has in-depth experience with telematics technology and was tasked with evaluating all of the various options available. His criteria included costs, ease of implementation, with a strong focus on driver safety and lowering liability. Safe driving practices can have a cascading effect on the cost of fuel, tires, maintenance, insurance and maximizing technician’s billable hours while keeping them safe while behind the wheel.

Switching to Azuga

Dan learned about Azuga’s safety-focused telematics technology through their shared membership in the North American Fire Extinguisher Distributors (NAFED) association, which is focused on the commercial fire and safety industry.

Ultimately, Azuga was chosen for a number of reasons. “Switching from our previous solution gave us twice the benefits, including a rewards system and safety cameras, at the same cost. It was an easy decision and the transition was smooth. The equipment is easy to install and transfer between vehicles, which is sometimes needed. Our previous experience of having to pay an installer and train someone to pull and reinstall new vehicles was costly and very inconvenient.” Azuga Fleet is powered by AWS.

Technician Buy-in

Management was conscious of potential pushback from employees not wanting to be monitored by the safety camera. Dan initially installed equipment on just his vehicle, then implemented it in the trucks of a few key guys to get them acclimated and collect their feedback. This phased approach allowed Dan to communicate to staff that the primary purpose of safety cameras is to mitigate liability and defend against false claims, it’s protection FOR his team. With that being said, camera events also provide more context of the aggressive driving events the GPS system records, allowing for a 360 degree view of driving behavior, which allows for better coaching, if needed.

Dan then implemented a safe driving rewards program, using Azuga’s Rewards platform. Technicians use the Azuga Mobile app to see their driving scores and how they compare to their peers. Dan also chose to enable “the annoying beep on the tracking device when techs speed or slam on their brakes’’. The rewards program resulted in a big drop in harsh braking and aggressive driving, which was a bigger safety concern than speeding. “Initially, notifications were pouring in until we implemented a monetary reward. We started by rewarding the techs with the highest score at the end of each week. Everyone sees everyone’s score. It’s a friendly competition and ribbing by the guys, all in good fun.“

Incentives Drive Behavior

$10 is awarded to the best driver of our medium-duty vehicles and $10 for the heavy-duty drivers. Top score for the quarter earns the best driver $100. Sending payments is extremely simple, rewards are sent digitally to the Azuga Fleet Mobile app. “Azuga is working great for us.  The rewards program is a real hit.  It has created some great competition, and some jealousy.

The overall goals of the company were to minimize fuel costs, vehicle wear and tear, and of course, minimize accidents. 8 months after upgrading to Azuga, Reliable Fire & Safety has seen a reduction in speeding, harsh braking, and idling events. Dan credits the simple but effective incentives program and granular visibility of fleet operations.

Azuga Fleet runs on a large TV in the office, as well as on everyone’s computers and smartphones. It’s used by the office staff to make better dispatching decisions. Visibility of traffic and truck monitoring helps with dispatching decisions and knowing technicians’ driving direction ensures that they are getting to where they need to be.

The administrative version of the Azuga Mobile app is helpful as well. He can ensure technicians are on their way to a Saturday evening appointment without bothering or distracting technicians with a phone call.