EROAD’s Rugged, Reliable Solution Slashes Compliance Violations

Business Need

OMNI Environmental Solutions, a Louisiana-based company in the oil and gas industry, was seeking a telematics solution that reliably and accurately tracks and reports Electronic Record of Duty Status (eRODS), employee timesheets and more to ensure consistent regulatory compliance, improve driver experience and reduce its administrative burden related to telematics.

OMNI’s evaluation criteria were based on a desire for improved tracking and reporting, reliable connectivity and the durability to withstand harsh environments associated with oil and gas production. 

Challenges

OMNI’s previous telematics provider failed to meet expectations with both its ELD hardware and its customer support. Devices did not stay connected to trucks via Bluetooth, which was the only method of connection. The frequent hardware malfunctions put OMNI at risk of falling out of regulatory compliance. When seeking customer support for ongoing hardware issues, OMNI would encounter lengthy wait times, dropped calls and an overall unsatisfactory experience. 

“Most of our issues had to be escalated to tier II support, and it took weeks for them to reply. Often, the response was not a resolution to our reported issues,” said Mary Dartez, who oversees compliance at OMNI. “We ended up having to replace many devices, which was a huge challenge for us because we had to schedule one of their 3rd-party technicians to come out and swap the devices.” 

Solution

In searching for a better telematics solution, OMNI conducted pilots with three potential providers and ultimately decided to partner with EROAD.  

EROAD and the Ehubo ELD rose to the top for several reasons, Dartez said, including: 

• Hard-wired in-cab device that ensures a reliable connection between device and truck 
• Driver-friendly ELD and easy-to-use fleet management platform 
• Responsive customer support

“EROAD provided us with a product that provides consistent connectivity, and we have had very few issues. When an issue is reported, it is resolved quickly,” Dartez said. “We have had positive feedback from our drivers. They find it easy to use, allowing them to perform their job duties without worrying about issues with reporting, which previously wasted a lot of time during their shifts.” 

In addition to the core requirements of reliable connectivity and compliance assurance, OMNI has found many other features of the EROAD solution beneficial, including: 

• Increased visibility via EROAD’s activity map 
• The Smart Short Haul feature 
• In-cab messaging 
• Managing unassigned miles 
• Fuel usage reporting 

Results

Since adopting the EROAD solution, OMNI has seen improvement in key areas, including: 

• 25% reduction in compliance violations 
• 50% reduction in administrative time related to hardware issues 
• Increased job satisfaction for both drivers and management 

“Improving our operational efficiencies while providing our employees, customers and community with a safe working environment has always been a priority, but our prior solution was not optimized for this,” Dartez said. “While looking at EROAD, we were impressed with the quality of customer support and the technical features of solutions. Issues can arise very quickly in the oil and gas industry, but knowing we are supported by a provider that prioritizes safety just as much as we do, it was a no-brainer.” 

Click here to learn how EROAD’s fleet management technology can help you simplify compliance, boost safety, streamline maintenance and more