In the webinar Insights that Matter: Growing savings through integrated fleet and spend, Sean Byrnes, Motive’s senior SME, Financial Products, interviewed Adam Stowers, equipment manager at Hardy and Harper, about the success they’re having using the Motive platform.
Based in Lake Forest, California, Hardy and Harper is a leading asphalt paving contractor specializing in major commercial and public works construction projects. With 150 employees and 300 assets, they’ve been in business for 50 years.
In this post, you will learn what drove Hardy & Harper’s decision to invest in dual-facing dash cams, and how the Motive Card has taken Hardy & Harper’s spend management to a new level. Watch the video to catch the full webinar, and continue reading for discussion highlights.
What drove Hardy & Harper’s search for a new fleet management partner
Sean Byrnes: “Let’s dial back nine months ago. What prompted you to search for a new fleet management vendor?”
Adam Stowers: “When I came on board at Hardy & Harper, things were on a spreadsheet, but the spreadsheet was really wonky. It was really hit-and-miss. I think it was actually Motive that hosted a webinar where they basically said spreadsheets are a dead entity in the long-term effect.
“I wanted a way to bring this to the cloud. We had a previous GPS provider, but like the spreadsheet, it was all over the place. Things were input in a lot of different ways. We weren’t getting great support. That led us to start looking around.”
Sean Byrnes: “When you were evaluating different vendors, what were you really looking for in a vendor or a partner to help you with the fleet management side?”
Adam Stowers: “We were looking for support. I wanted someone who could help us build this from the ground up and start over. When we were talking to the guys, even during the demo stage, the hardware was one thing, but the support we received was something completely different.”
Sean Byrnes: “I remember the questions you were asking during the demos and in the trials. You put us through the ringer. But I’m glad to hear we were able to help you solve a lot of the problems you were running into.”
Why Hardy & Harper changed their tune on driver-facing cameras
Sean Byrnes: “One of the things we had talked about last year was deprioritizing dash cams. I think at the time when we were talking, it wasn’t a huge sticking point for Hardy & Harper, but that had changed over time. What really changed about your needs or the Motive system that made you say, “You know what, I do need to look at cameras for my fleet?”
Adam Stowers: “Dash cams are volatile. I think in any company that you go to, whether it’s the biggest company or the smallest company, it’s one of those things where everybody and I even remember myself being the same way when I was younger, like I’m not going with cameras, I’ll never do cameras.
“And then I was only gonna do forward-facing cameras and then I ended up doing the trial with Motive and a few other guys. I actually ran three different guys through the ringer. I wanted to see which horse was gonna actually lead.
“I actually had two incidents, one with Motive and one with someone else. Once I had dual-facing dash cams in there I could see that they provided speed and brake pressure. It provided what the driver was doing, and it was really a voice for the driver. Prior to that, literally, if there was an accident, it was automatically our fault.
“We had one incident where someone was trying to pass us on the right-hand side through a signal the camera picked up. The driver-facing camera picked up the fish eye in the passenger mirror. The actual passenger mirror picked up the fish eye and it clearly showed the vehicle coming from the right-hand side and turning into our vehicle. That changed everything. When I put that through, it was an automatic reject from the insurance company. They completely denied the claim. It made it where I could actually push cameras forward.”
“Then it was just a matter of getting everybody on board. Like ‘We’re doing cameras and this is why.’”
How the Motive Card ‘changed everything’ for Hardy & Harper
Sean Byrnes: “Anything else that came up during your trial process that helped you decide to go with Motive?”
Adam Stowers: “Motive was the complete package. What really changed everything for me and drove Motive forward was the Motive Card. That was the deciding factor.
“Everybody has to do what they call a DVIR. Those are basically reports they have to do for all their trucks. They’re required federally for any time there’s something wrong or something that can put it out of service. What we require internally is a DVIR every day. So when we started testing it under the Motive platform, you could actually do your DVIRs right there. But how do we get everybody to actually commit to doing the DVIRs?
“That’s kind of like how do we get them to commit to using the app? I had prior GPS, so I had prior apps before, but I couldn’t get people to download the app. There was no way to enforce it. But with the Motive Card, you actually force the use of the app because you can lock down the cards.
“Well, with the card being permanently locked, I can force the app to open it up, so the app unlocks it. That was really the key. Once I could find a way to force participation with the actual app, now, all of a sudden we get a full 360 view because now we can get driver input or forced driver input. So we know where they’re at and that’s really changed things as far as moving forward on that.”
Sean Byrnes: “And so it’s almost like a backdoor way to get drivers to buy into utilizing the app because they are forced to use it when they want to use the Motive Card.”
Adam Stowers: “Yeah. We have infinite capabilities with it. So now the cards aren’t coveted. It’s not like the old card where a driver could take it, use it with their personal car on his days off or whatever. Because the Motive Card has the lock system, we were able to completely change our entire platform and how we distributed fuel cards, registered drivers, and got feedback on assets.“
Sean Byrnes: “So it sounds like you’re using the platform more as a business management tool where you’re managing drivers day to day, new drivers coming on, new assets coming on. It really sounds like an operational hub for Hardy and Harper.”
Adam Stowers: “Yeah, and that’s really where you want to go.”
For more about how Hardy & Harper is using the Motive platform to improve the safety, productivity, and profitability of their operations, read our Hardy & Harper case study.
