The KLX tagline is “Next Level Readiness.” Every day, that means going above and beyond to plan even the smallest details of their projects for customers, thinking ahead and bringing experienced perspective and specialized technologies that help customers get ahead of potential problems. “Next Level Readiness” is a rallying cry for KLX’s 2,000 employees who tackle mission-critical onshore oil field services. Every detail matters, especially the safety of the employees who work in some of the roughest and toughest conditions in the U.S.

Safety in oil fields is serious business and KLX knows it’s no joke. Technology plays a critical role in KLX’s safety strategy and the company has deployed Motive dual-facing AI Dashcams, Vehicle Gateways, and Asset Gateways throughout its fleet of 2,000 vehicles and has adopted Motive Card for its spend management operations.

Doug Barnette, vice president of Health, Safety, Environmental for KLX Energy Services, calls it “game-changing.” KLX has seen a $15,000 monthly savings in fuel spend and a 50% reduction in unidentified drivers almost overnight, plus a steep reduction in at-fault accidents. At Vision 24: The Motive Innovation Summit, Motive Chief Customer Officer Ryan Plutnicki sat down for an interview with Barnette. During the conversation, Barnett explained Motive’s AI-powered technology’s impact on KLX performance and safety across their operations.

Watch the video below for the discussion, and read on for Barnette’s key takeaways.

Turn a negative into a positive

Ryan Plutnicki: “I remember, over dinner one night you shared with me something that’s kind of difficult to talk about. But there was a pretty bad accident that was occurring at the same time that you were making the decision to switch to Motive.”

Doug Barnette: “In the fall of 2022, we had a significant accident and our insurance costs increased year over year just from that one incident over 50%. 

“So it was very important to really look at that incident and not just do the root cause analysis and identify the consequences and what led up to it, but really tear apart our whole fleet strategy and ultimately internal controls on background, utilizing MVR, making sure that every driver we had behind the wheel was compliant with our standards to drive. 

“And then using Motive, we went to the AI Dashcams to really be that verifier of all of these controls that we put in place. And it was key. What we saw immediately was a significant improvement in our performance in regards to at-fault vehicle incidents. And, you know, it was so meaningful for the company to really look at all these pieces. We looked at resources. We expanded our fleet team. We looked at how we utilize our vehicles. And through Motive, we were able to really quantify all these activities and verify that how we wanted it to be, was actually being done.”

We dropped our vehicle incidents by half almost overnight

Ryan Plutnicki: “So 2,000 vehicles, that’s a huge project. And it required quite a bit of change management, I imagine.” 

Doug Barnette: “It did. We started 100% on the Motive road-facing AI Dashcams. Immediately, we saw a significant improvement. And, going back to insurance, we’re actually able to leverage, ultimately, that we’re having fewer events. Last year, we had four months straight without one vehicle incident, which I had never actually experienced before. “We took that same message to our insurance carriers and said, ‘Hey, you can underwrite consistency. I know you can’t underwrite these peaks and valleys we have with our vehicle incidents.’ But we’re able to put in front of them the narrative that you can almost plan “to a T” how many vehicle incidents we’ll have each month now based on the technology we’re utilizing.”

With Motive, we have technology to prevent fraud

Ryan Plutnicki: “You also rolled out the Motive Card, right?”

Doug Barnette: “It was a no-brainer for us. We have the ability to, instead of sending an email and memo that goes out, say to our drivers ‘Hey, this is where you need to go if you’re fueling up.’ The drivers are on the road in the middle of nowhere, whether it’s North Dakota, Texas, or West Virginia. With the Motive Card, they just get to see where their savings are. 

“So with that being said, ultimately, we immediately started to experience, on average, about $15,000 a month in savings with Motive versus our previous provider. And another benefit, we reduced our unidentified drivers by 50% almost overnight just due to the fact that employees were having to use their Motive Driver App to unlock their card, which means they were logging into the vehicle. So ultimately, there are so many more benefits.”

We put people first

Ryan Plutnicki: “We’re extremely committed to an ongoing partnership of co-innovation with our customers. Very excited about the journey ahead. I’d love to hear how this impacted you personally.”

Doug Barnette: “As my career has developed, I’ve always found myself getting more in the back office, sitting in corporate. Implementing this Motive project has really put me in front of the people that make our business work. We’re a people business just like most businesses are. And instead of sitting in an office implementing policies and procedures and strategies, we’re able to get in front of the people new to our industry and have that one-on-one contact with individuals and show them, not only is it important for our company to do this, but I truly care about your safety and your ability to get home every day.

“Being able to drive that message one-on-one and in groups to people that I don’t see every day to really let them know, regardless of what you think, this will save lives. This technology is game changing. We’ve seen the effect of it and are looking forward to increasing that effect as technology advances and AI continues to improve. As a safety professional, the hardest thing to do is to go home and sleep well at night. And right now, I sleep much better than I did before we started implementing Motive.”

I’m very passionate about ESG

Ryan Plutnicki: “Your title is Vice President of Health, Safety, and Environment. I don’t always think of the environment or sustainability when I think of an oil and gas company. What does that look like?”

Doug Barnette: “I was born and raised in Alaska. So I spent my whole childhood hiking and fishing on pristine glacier waters. I’ve had the ability to see climate change throughout the years in my hometown. When I was a child, I was able to see glaciers from a lookout point. Today, it’s very different. So it is very meaningful for me to ensure that we’re responsible even in oil and gas, knowing that our job is to get oil and gas out of the ground. 

“Emissions, all of those pieces, are significant when you start looking at what’s the biggest cause for climate change. But at the same time, one of the best things I enjoy with Motive is we have Fleet View. We have our portal. We know where all the vehicles are. In the same portal, we’ve attached all of our fuel usage, all of our fuel spend, the ease of IFTA reporting, all of those things. And now, as we start getting into sustainability and ESG reporting, we have that ability to really know what our baseline is. That’s the key, understanding what your baseline is.”

There are lots of vendors in this space, but Motive is a partnership

Ryan Plutnicki: “One thing that’s really near and dear to my heart, overseeing the implementation support and customer success organization, is that we really strive for unmatched customer experience. We look at this as much more of a partnership than a vendor-customer relationship. And I would love to get your thoughts on what we’re doing well there and where you’d like to see us go.”

Doug Barnette: “I will say throughout, whether it’s been the Motive Card or dash cam implementation, my experience wasn’t just ‘We signed the contract, Hey, good luck.’ Every step of the way, especially when we recognized how difficult it would be for people to receive the message that we’re putting this equipment into our vehicles, it was all of a sudden, ‘Hey, do you have FAQs?’ Just the tireless amount of work that the Motive team did to meet our needs. They were so key in the communication plans. 

“And even more so when we implemented the Motive Cards. We had live Motive reps do manager training over Microsoft Teams, multiple sessions throughout a week. So all of our management understood how coaching worked. And then my Motive team supported us and really went above and beyond. We have many vendors. Everyone has lots of vendors in this space, but Motive feels like a partnership. And they are.”

For more on the success KLX has had with Motive’s AI Dashcams, read our article in Oil and Gas Journal.