Builders FirstSource Cuts Fuel Waste and Increases Deliveries with Teletrac

Builders FirstSource (BFS), a $2 billion diversified manufacturer and supplier of structural building materials and services to homebuilders, selected Fleet Director only after an extensive review based on field trials in several regions. Salim Baltagi, vice president – logistics, headed up the selection process. His selection criteria included:

• Offer a broad set of fleet management and driver measurement tools
• Be an integrated system that would monitor engine idle times, provide maintenance alerts, automate state fuel tax and DOT report preparation
• Record driver activities for start, stop and on-break times as well as vehicle speed
• Ease of use
• The quality of manufacturer training and support

“Obviously, Fleet Director won the competition hands down,” said Mr. Baltagi. He continued with, “Our fleet logs an average of around 4,000,000 miles per month. Fuel consumption is watched very closely. After installing Fleet Director, engine idling times have dropped significantly. By knowing each truck’s location and status in real time, we are making more deliveries per day with the same or fewer numbers of trucks. We no longer criss-cross routes. Out of route miles have been virtually eliminated.”

BFS credits the 2-way communications with helping cut fuel consumption as well. Many deliveries are made to new developments where street signs and house numbers are not yet available. Fleet Director allows dispatchers to give drivers turn-by-turn directions to the proper location. This has saved countless wasted miles. Fleet Director’s Alert Software has improved security. Many alert parameters are in place. These include geo-fences, engine hours of operation and speeds. Any exception will notify appropriate personnel at their workstation, via cell phone or pager. “If a loaded truck is sitting in our yard and someone starts the engine past curfew, we need to know about it immediately. Otherwise, it could mean a loss of several thousand dollars. With

Fleet Director Alert, we’re on top of our assets 24 hours a day,” Mr. Baltagi said. He concluded with, “All in all, Fleet Director is an excellent, easy-to-use, versatile tool. We would not operate without it.”