Green Mountain saves $70k in auto claims with AI Video

Green Mountain Communications deployed Verizon Connect's dashcams and integrated fleet management software to enhance driver safety, reduce liability risk, and achieve significant cost savings. 

Fleet maintenance is a huge responsibility. When considering the cost of insurance, fuel, maintenance, compliance reporting, and dispatch inefficiencies, it's easy to lose sight of what doesn't appear on a balance sheet: safety. 

Green Mountain Communications keeps all of these costs in mind. As a leader in telecommunications construction, Green Mountain serves wireless carriers, businesses, and state and municipal governments across New England. The business is 100% employee-owned, and worker safety is a top priority. 

When the company realized they could leverage their 40+ vehicle fleet to achieve this goal, they adopted a solution that would increase visibility and, by extension, help protect the safety of their drivers.

Information gaps led to rising auto losses 

Scheduling Manager Josh Chagnon dispatches crews, sometimes to remote locations across multiple states. 

"Day to day, there's a lot of driving," he said. "On average, our crews work an hour and a half to two hours away. That's a lot of time on the road." 

Statistically, all that driving time posed a greater threat to worker safety than crews working atop a telecommunications tower. Victor Drouin should know—in addition to his role as president of Green Mountain, he's the chair of the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE). The organization originally focused on climber safety, but today, traffic fatalities are a far greater risk than tower falls. 

"We have a commitment to getting our workers home safely every day. And that means home, not just off the tower," Drouin said. 

Green Mountain used a dedicated platform for vehicle tracking, which helped Chagnon efficiently dispatch crews to reduce driving time. However, the platform didn't have the ability to reduce fuel costs or streamline compliance reporting. The platform also had some information gaps: 

• It didn't provide behavioral information, such as driving over the speed limit 
• It couldn't provide video evidence after an accident 

Green Mountain vehicles are involved in three accidents per year on average, often at intersections or in merging traffic, where the company's low, car-style trailers can catch other drivers off-guard. Accident claims were becoming costly, but it was hard to dispute them without knowing who was to blame. 

"The reality was we didn't have any proof," Drouin said. "We're in a commercial vehicle, so nine times out of 10, we paid." 

Because of this, Green Mountain's auto insurance premiums increased. 

"When we switched to captive insurance, our insurer told us flat out: ‘Your auto policy is your biggest risk. That's where you're going to see your biggest increases,'" Drouin said.

Meanwhile, the company's auto losses continued to rise, jumping from $30,000 to $50,000 to $70,000. It represented their biggest expense every year. 

Underneath the costs, a persistent issue was the lack of coaching opportunities that would highlight areas for improvement and produce safer drivers. 

Dashcams offer windows into life on the road 

Green Mountain felt this was an opportunity to act, before someone got hurt. 

"There were enough warning signs, and we knew one of these days, it would catch up with us," Drouin said. "If we don't have cameras, we're going to pay for it." 

Green Mountain demoed multiple products, but General Manager Mike Mikula found the strong integrations of Verizon Connect best suited to Green Mountain's needs. 

Green Mountain began by installing Verizon Connect's front-facing dashcams alongside its integrated fleet management software. Realizing that most of their accidents are rear-end collisions, the company also adopted rear-facing extended view cameras.

While there was initially "a bit of grumbling," Chagnon said driver attitudes changed when they saw the cameras' objective view of what really happens in a collision. "No one has issues with them anymore."

The company installed cameras in batches of five or six vehicles, keeping the majority of the fleet in active service during the rollout. Since Green Mountain implemented Verizon Connect, they have reduced their vehicle liability, boosted efficiency, and created a safer environment for drivers.

Technology that pays for itself 

Green Mountain always had confidence in their drivers, and now they have the video to back it up.

Dashcams and extended view cameras have provided the evidence Green Mountain needs to exonerate their drivers of wrongdoing. In a recent incident, rear camera footage revealed a driver looking at his phone before rear-ending a Green Mountain vehicle going around 40 mph.

"You get an extended, full 360° idea of what's going on," Chagnon said.

In the first year after implementation, Green Mountain drivers were involved in four collisions, and the company didn't pay a single claim. As an added bonus, video evidence has helped them close cases fast. 

"Claims are settled in days—not weeks or months or years," Drouin said. Aside from reducing future premiums, the claims savings are impactful on their own. 

"The savings from those accidents more than covered the system's operating costs for the whole year," Drouin said, adding, "Verizon Connect has paid for itself, several times over." 

Beyond liability protection, Verizon Connect's integrated software and real-time tracking makes it easier for Chagnon to identify the closest crew to a customer call so he can direct drivers to cell sites more accurately. 

Other colleagues use the platform to streamline and automate previously manual and paper-based processes, like IFTA reporting, pre-trip safety inspections, and scheduling maintenance. It's no longer necessary to gather crumpled receipts to file an IFTA report, and the platform is easy to use and accessible, unlike physical log books that are easily lost. 

A little good behavior goes a long way 

Green Mountain drivers have reduced speeding overall, leading to greater fuel efficiency. Driving just two to three miles per hour slower noticeably impacted the company's bottom line. 

"If you get an extra mile per gallon and drive a million miles per year, that equates to several thousand dollars in fuel savings," Drouin said. 

Most importantly, Verizon Connect provided the technology to monitor driving behavior, identify trends, and improve safety through driver coaching. Dashcams alert drivers when they are speeding, and the instant feedback encourages drivers to slow down. Green Mountain's safety manager receives similar alerts. The manager can then review video footage to determine whether a safety incident occurred, compare it to similar examples, and review it with the driver to improve their abilities. Savings and safety go hand in hand, and Verizon Connect has proven that to be the case at Green Mountain.

Verizon Connect enhances Green Mountain driver safety and operational efficiency while reducing its liability costs.