How Motive helps food and beverage companies cut hidden costs, prevent loss, and run safer, more profitable operations.
The food and beverage (F&B) industry runs on some of the tightest margins in the supply chain, with fleets under constant pressure to preserve cargo integrity and deliver on time.
Here’s a reality check:
- Insurance costs per mile have jumped 47% in the last decade.
- Fuel costs are up and account for up to 40% of vehicle-based expenses.
- Cargo theft is on the rise, with CargoNet reporting a massive increase in F&B-related theft, particularly meat products (242% increase) and beverages (65% increase for alcoholic, 94% increase for non-alcoholic).
Combine those challenges with inflation, driver shortages, and rising claims, and it’s easy to see that food and beverage operations are getting squeezed.
The difference between a profitable F&B fleet and one stuck in the red often comes down to visibility.
- Do you know where your costs, risks, and biggest liabilities are coming from?
- Can you prevent the next breakdown or spoilage claim, or only react to it?
- Can you prove compliance before an auditor or adjuster ever asks?
If you don’t have the answers, Motive can get you there.
Many losses in food and beverage operations don’t come from dramatic failures; it’s the little things that eventually add up to a big problem. Issues such as idle equipment, inconsistent inspections, and spoilage can hinder operations over time. Without visibility into your vehicles’ and assets’ locations and performance, you can’t right-size your fleet or cut costs.
Take fuel, for example. It’s one of the most significant costs for businesses with fleets, yet many lack visibility into just how much fuel their fleet is using, and whether it’s all for legitimate business purposes. With a unified view of transaction data, location data, and vehicle telematics, it’s difficult to know if transactions are legitimate, if drivers are getting the best price, or if hidden fees and fraud are slipping through the cracks.
Turning cost centers into visibility centers
Maximizing profitability is challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. With Motive, F&B businesses can bring fleet operations, spend data, and safety together in one unified platform. With an all-in-one solution, you can monitor reefer zones in real time, detect unsafe driving before it leads to an accident, automatically stop fraud in real time, and easily track maintenance needs.
Detecting unsafe driving and preventing accidents, for example, can save a business a lot of money. A recent FMCSA study estimated the average cost of a fatal commercial motor vehicle crash across industries is $14.5M. That includes payouts, damage to property and cargo, and more, not to mention the tragic loss of life.
An integrated operations platform like Motive can help reduce accidents and exonerate drivers, resulting in a direct profitability impact. Motive AI Dashcams detect unsafe behaviors and driving patterns, delivering real-time in-cab alerts before they lead to collisions.
When accidents or incidents do occur, driver exoneration is easier with video evidence. AI Dashcams capture high-resolution video that can be immediately provided to law enforcement at the scene, helping avoid a “he said, she said” scenario and protecting drivers from false claims and frivolous lawsuits. Video evidence can also help fleets avoid expensive settlements, reduce litigation expenses, and prevent insurance premium increases.
Beyond safety, Motive also helps fleets save at the pump. Motive Card provides significant savings on fuel, maintenance, and more, at over 35,000 partner locations in North America, so drivers and their managers know they’re getting the best price. And because Motive Card is connected to the entire Motive platform, you will receive greater visibility and control over your fleet’s spend.
- Granular controls that automatically prevent unapproved spend.
- Purchase data that is automatically synced to trip reports and vehicle assignments.
- Time-stamped transactions verified by telematics, so you can spot and prevent fuel fraud.
Reefer monitoring protects more than cargo
For F&B fleets, your product is only as safe as your reefer data. But reefer systems are complex, and their maintenance costs may be high as a result. If a unit fails or fleets can’t prove that correct temperature and humidity were maintained throughout the trip, food can spoil or be rejected — with serious financial consequences. With Motive Reefer Monitoring, you control and monitor your cargo in real time during cold chain transport. With live temperature and humidity monitoring across up to six zones per trailer, you can:
- Make adjustments in real time.
- Set geofence boundaries.
- Receive alerts the moment readings deviate from the acceptable range.
Motive also provides all of the data you need for FDA- and USDA reporting with zero manual entry, so you can satisfy regulatory requirements, avoid fines, and ensure your customers don’t reject their deliveries.
From operations to opportunity
The most profitable F&B fleets use technology to protect their operations. From safety and compliance to reefer monitoring and spend management, having a single platform that provides increased visibility and control is crucial. Companies that integrate Motive into their operations have seen measurable impact with fewer claims, fewer compliance issues, and lower costs.
Thin margins aren’t going away, but preventable losses can. Motive helps food and beverage companies take control of their operations and improve the safety, productivity, and profitability of their operations.
Are you ready to start protecting every mile, meal, and margin?
