CarChip Pro Keeps Safety the First Priority at First Alarm

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1 COMMERCIAL CASE STUDY First Alarm, Aptos, CA First Alarm began using CarChip two years ago and has saved approximately $1,000,000 in insurance costs. CarChip Pro Keeps Safety the First Priority at First Alarm In 1966, Jarl Saal began providing private security service to the California beach town of Santa Cruz. With the advancement of sophisticated electronics in the security industry, his business, First Alarm, grew rapidly. With that growth, came an ever-expanding fleet of vehicles, and ever-expanding concerns about safety, insurance costs, and vehicle downtime. By adding CarChip Pro to his operation, Saal has saved nearly a million dollars in insurance costs, and even better, has a perfect vehicle safety record. Today, First Alarm employs nearly 450 people and has been nationally recognized as the 36th largest security company in the United States. No longer exclusive to the beach community, First Alarm offers residential and commercial security systems and private patrol to customers all over the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. His company provides services 24 hours a day, seven days a week to homeowners, school districts, businesses, city and county government facilities, manufacturing plants, and others. His fleet of vehicles includes 75 vans and pickups. The vehicles are workhorses, driven an average of 6,000 miles a month. While his business was growing, Saal saw his vehicle operation costs skyrocket. Saal knew that creating better driving habits would be good for his employee safety program, as well as for his bottom line. Davis Instruments CarChip Pro gave him a comprehensive solution by giving him details of both the drivers and the engines performance. CarChip records every second of every trip, including speed, time and distance. It also reports jackrabbit starts and hard-braking that lead to increased maintenance costs. To prevent vehicle wear and tear and to increase safety, Saal sets speed limits for his vehicles using CarChip software. When vehicles exceed the pre-set speed, the CarChip data logger in the vehicle sounds an alarm until the vehicle reduces its speed to under the set limit. Multiple Uses for Various Needs Saal can also review his vehicles engine performance with CarChip because it can record 23 different engine functions, including RPM, fuel pressure, fuel trim, and coolant temperature. It diagnoses engine trouble codes and also allows the check engine light to be reset. We started with 25 CarChips, said Saal. Our objective was to alert employees to bad driving habits. We also wanted the forensics, or history, of INFO@CARCHIP.COM 1

2 any accident. My car was one of the first to receive a CarChip. I was delighted to find that installation was as easy as the company promised you just plug CarChip into the port under the steering wheel that s it! First Alarm s first safety program also included in-vehicle cameras, which produced continuous, looping video. But Saal said it was difficult to use the camera data because there were no time stamps for the video. We started with 25 CarChips, said Saal. Our objective was to alert employees to bad driving habits. We also wanted the forensics, or history, of any accident. Instant Feedback Corrects Bad Driving Habits and Cuts Insurance Costs We were frustrated with the cameras, said Saal. In addition to providing detailed trip information, CarChip gives the driver instantaneous feedback through the audible alarm. We have eliminated loss because we have eliminated accidents altogether. Our insurance and workers compensation rates have dropped dramatically. Before CarChip, First Alarm s monthly insurance premium had hit the $100,000 mark. Since using CarChip, his premiums have been reduced to $25,000. Last year, Saal received a $900,000 rebate, which he chalked up to CarChip. At under $200 a unit, with no subscription fees or installation costs, CarChip gets a big thumbs-up from First Alarm s accounting team. CarChip has become a mainstay of First Alarm s fleet management program. Drivers are aware that CarChip is along for the ride, and they are reminded that not only are they the public face of First Alarm, but that their employer is concerned about their safety in the field. We have accomplished our goal of creating a culture of safety, Saal added. We have changed bad driving habits, and some of our employees actually request CarChip in their cars. The CarChips are appreciated by everyone who drives our trucks. Our First Alarm vehicles are well-marked and you d be surprised at the feedback we receive from the driving public. Because of CarChip, the calls are always positive and complimentary. Expands According to Need Driver safety, insurance and maintenance savings aren t the only aspects of First Alarm s fleet management program that has benefited from CarChip. The other is the time and cost of administering the fleet program. With 75 vehicles, it made sense for Saal to install and test CarChip Fleet Pro s wireless download system, which allows his fleet administrator to automatically retrieve driving and vehicle data as his vehicles enter the parking lot. He is also currently testing Fleet Pro s GPS system, which allows him to see where his vehicles went during the day, week or month. The beauty of both these devices is that they work in sync with Davis s Fleet Management Software, or FMS, which allows First Alarm s fleet administrator to create many different kinds of reports including ranking drivers and vehicles under a wide variety of criteria. Being able to wirelessly download vehicle data allows First Alarm s security technicians to focus on their jobs rather than their vehicle, and frees Saal s fleet administrator from collecting devices or manually downloading data. It s a win-win for drivers and administrators. When you consider the minimal cost of CarChip, compared with in-vehicle cameras, (about $500 each), we have a phenomenal return on investment and great bottom line. This is the best deal going. First Alarm, First in Safety First Alarm s first priority is safety in their communities. With CarChip, that attitude is clearly extended to their own employees by keeping them and their vehicles safely on duty, 24/7. The positive results show in First Alarm s safety record, and community standing INFO@CARCHIP.COM

3 1. Show hard accelerations in blue and extreme braking in red on CarChip s software graphs to help train drivers and indicate potential vehicle wear and tear Select engine performance parameters as a way of monitoring engine performance and possibly preempting costly repairs. Users can choose to monitor up to four out of 23 engine parameters at any given time, including: Trouble codes Fuel pressure Intake manifold pressure Engine coolant temperature Calculated load value Engine speed Fuel trim status Fuel system status INFO@CARCHIP.COM 3

4 3. Get individual and summary trip info showing start and end times, duration, idle time, distance, average and maximum speed, hard braking and acceleration Rank drivers by speed, or other selected driving and performance parameters, with CarChip Fleet Pro s Fleet Management software. 4 CarChip is made by Davis Instruments info@carchip.com 3465 Diablo Ave., Hayward, CA USA PR

5 COMMERCIAL CASE STUDY Anchor Pest Control, Sonora, CA Pest Control Company Exterminates Business Problem Rapid growth of Don Wolf s pest control business made managing his fleet of 15 vehicles a headache. Anchor Pest Control owner and operator Don Wolf had a problem. The rapid growth of his mobile pest control business made managing his vehicles a headache. He installed GPS in the vehicles to monitor where the vehicles had been but still had no information on how the vehicles were performing or what his employees driving habits were. Most of the vehicle monitoring systems he researched suited larger commercial vehicle fleets. They also required professional installation and monthly subscriber or service fees. Wolf needed a vehicle tracking system that would allow a small business owner to quickly gain insight into how his vehicles and drivers were performing. Small Business Budgets and Ease of Installation When Anchor Pest Control chose to start off with a fleet management system, that system had to meet four main criteria: 1. easy to afford on a limited budget 2. easy to install and unobtrusive to drivers 3. create easy-to-read driving and performance reports 4. provide easy expansion The company chose CarChip Pro from Davis Instruments because it provided a better solution than any other fleet management product for a smallto-midsize business for every criterion specified. Easy to Budget Wolf didn t crunch the numbers to find out how quickly a fleet management tool would pay for itself. What he did know, however, was that with an expanding fleet of 15 work vehicles, he was spending more time managing his drivers and maintenance schedules than his business. He knew he needed to put a vehicle management plan in place, without breaking his bank account. Wolf began looking at various options. During his evaluation, he came INFO@CARCHIP.COM 1

6 Anchor Pest Control owner, Don Wolf, reviews an employee s daily driving report. to the conclusion that he didn t need real-time GPS, especially when he added up the ongoing monthly fees associated with the service. He found that CarChip provided all the information he needed when he compared the reports to his employees job logs for the day or week. Easy to Install and Use When I discovered that all I had to do was to plug CarChip into the diagnostic port located under the dashboard, it was exciting, said Wolf. While he enjoyed CarChip s easy installation, he also appreciated that it didn t require cameras or obtrusive cables. As with any other small to mid-sized service business, it was important for Anchor Pest Control to have all its work vehicles on the job every day. One or two vehicles out of commission would significantly reduce revenues for that period. A smart business person, Wolf also knows that customers with pest problems on a Monday don t want to hear that a technician won t be available until Friday. They have the phone book open and will call the next pest control company on the page if they re not getting the kind of response they need. Because quick service and referrals are so important to Wolf s business, keeping all his vehicles running smoothly is one of the most important things he can do to keep his business successful. Since installing CarChip, Wolf has been able to diagnose vehicle problems and send his vehicles in for routine servicing before more serious maintenance problems arise and his business suffers. CarChip s software provides both driving and engine activity in graph or report forms. Users can view individual trip or summary reports. As well as being able to track 23 different engine parameters, CarChip can track up to every second of a trip as well as showing quick accelerations and braking. Business owners can also manage fuel efficiency and safety by setting a top-speed limit for each vehicle in CarChip s software where an audible alarm sounds when the vehicle exceeds that speed. Easy-to-Read Reports At first I was interested in investigating drivers mechanical complaints about vehicles but I found that CarChip could also help with grievances about our employees driving habits while they re at customers homes and businesses. For example, once when a customer called with concerns over how long the service technician was at her home, Wolf used CarChip s trip log to determine exactly how long the employee spent out on the jobsite. It was easy to gather driving information to correlate the service records and driving habits of his employees. Now when I get a complaint from the community about an employee s behavior or our service, I can remove the CarChip unit, download the data and review an individual report for that day. I can also compare that day with other days driving reports to see if this behavior is part of an overall trend or if the driver was just having a bad day. Beyond tracking employees, I can determine how long our service technicians are on-site performing their pest control duties, said Wolf. Our employees are like family members to us and we let them know that they are the public face of Anchor Pest Control. It s very important for us to be responsive and keep our vehicles performing at their best too. Our drivers know that I will be uploading the CarChip information to make sure both the vehicle and they are working at their highest level. Easy to Expand Wolf started with three CarChip units rotating through his fleet of 15 service vehicles. He learned, however, that it made sense to purchase CarChip for every vehicle. Again, compared to other products, the upfront cost of CarChip was small, and while he had a pest control business to run, he knew that his drivers new safety awareness and fewer repairs gave him more control over his expanding fleet. Easy to Justify For Anchor Pest Control, CarChip Pro has become a reliable tool for increasing driver safety awareness and keeping its vehicles on the road. That means reduced repair costs and greater profitability INFO@CARCHIP.COM

7 1. Graph showing hard accelerations in blue and extreme braking in red helps train drivers and indicates pending vehicle wear and tear Select engine performance parameters as a way of monitoring engine performance and possibly preempting costly repairs. Users can choose to monitor up to four out of 23 engine parameters at any given time, including: Trouble codes Fuel pressure Intake manifold pressure Engine coolant temperature Calculated load value Engine speed Fuel trim status Fuel system status INFO@CARCHIP.COM 3

8 3. Get individual and summary trip info showing start and end times, duration, idle time, distance, average and maximum speed, hard braking and acceleration With CarChip Fleet Pro and Fleet Management Software, you can easily rank drivers by speed or other selected parameters and download reports to Excel. 4 CarChip is made by Davis Instruments info@carchip.com 3465 Diablo Ave., Hayward, CA USA PR