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Case study

Civil Company Saves Time, Fuel & Assets With GPS

You don’t know how good Verizon Connect is, until you actually have it
Chris Noone
Director

Subterra Civil is an excavation company providing clients across NSW with professional services for the Civil Construction industry.

Subterra Civil encountered a few problems that led them to implementing GPS tracking. On one occasion, an employee stopped showing up to work for a week after taking a company car home with $40,000 worth of tools on board. After frantically searching around the countryside, Subterra finally found the missing company car and tools.

Soon after, Subterra Civil did some research and implemented Verizon Connect’s vehicle tracking system to avoid a similar issue happening again. 

“If something disappears like that again, we can find the vehicle straight away and go get it.” - Chris Noone, Director.

Simpler and More Accurate Timesheets

Subterra Civil used to do all their timesheets manually. This process was time intensive and often inaccurate. Every Friday Chris would chase employees for their weekly timesheets. Often, employees would estimate start and finish times, as they would forget the actual hours worked. Subterra Civil needed a way to quickly double check the accuracy of everyone’s timesheets. Verizon Connect let them see when their employees started and finished every day so there was no confusion.

“Verizon Connect has helped take the mess out of getting everyone’s timesheets.” - Chris Noone, Director.

Verizon Connect has saved Chris a lot of time. Verizon Connect helps Chris confirm the exact hours his team has worked. Verizon Connect’s accurate and instant reporting helps Chris speed through collecting timesheets, rather than spending half a day chasing employees. As a result he can get on with his work and be more productive.

“Just the time it’s saved me chasing up time sheets. I can do everyone’s time sheets in half an hour, where it used to take half an hour per person.” - Chris Noone, Director.

Less Vehicles Idling Leads to Lower Fuel Costs

Verizon Connect has proven to be incredibly useful for Subterra Civil. The solution can pinpoint excessive idling and let management know when the vehicle is on and wasting fuel. For instance, recently a couple of employees excessively idled company vehicles in the yard, for half an hour, to pad their timesheet. Verizon Connect’s GPS tracking system notified Chris of the idling incident. Subsequently, Chris was able to take corrective action. Further, he has since changed the behaviour of his employees and reduced wasted fuel. 

No More Holidays Down The Coast On Company Fuel

Like many businesses, Subterra allows employees to use company vehicles outside of work within reason, like going to the shops or picking the kids up from school. However, personal use can become a concern when employees take advantage and use the company vehicles excessively. Verizon Connect’s GPS tracking solution alerted Subterra Civil to a personal use incident, during which an employee abused the privilege of using the company vehicle outside of work hours. The employee had taken the company vehicle on a 250km drive down the coast for a holiday. Understandably, Subterra weren’t too happy about it. They talked to the driver and have since been able to cut out other instances of excessive personal use.

Keep Your Entire Fleet Safe When You’re Not Around

Subterra Civil also uses Verizon Connect to track their trailers. The trailers stay unsupervised at the depot overnight and on weekends, so they’re at a greater risk of theft. Now, with Verizon Connect, if there's ever any reason Subterra Civil is concerned about the safety or whereabouts of these trailers, they can quickly open up the live map and see where they are.

Improved Accuracy, Safety, and Fuel Savings Make Tracking More Than Worth It

All in all, Subterra Civil is very happy with Verizon Connect. It’s helped make their timesheet reporting fast and accurate, and has really helped give assurance and a sense of safety for their assets and vehicles. Finally it has helped reduce excessive personal use and abuse of company vehicles.

“You don’t know how good Verizon Connect is, until you actually have it” - Chris Noone, Director.


Tags: Safety, Productivity & Efficiency, Cost Control, Team Management, Vehicle & Asset Security