Nutrien Ag Solutions reduces distracted driving by 50% in three months
With the Connected Operations Cloud, Nutrien Ag Solutions elevates their safety program and gains end-to-end visibility across their combined fleet of vehicles and assets.
Meet Nutrien Ag Solutions
Nutrien Ag Solutions needed to modernize and gain visibility into their large-scale operations.
Headquartered in Loveland, Colorado, Nutrien Ag Solutions is the global leader of crop inputs and services with 1,500 locations that serve over 500,000 customers. As the largest agriculture retailer in the world, they provide agronomic solutions—including seed, crop protection inputs, and fertilizer and plant nutrition—to growers so they can produce healthier, more abundant crops. Because of Nutrien Ag Solutions’ expansive scope and scale of operations, their culture of safety is critical to protecting their drivers and the many communities they serve.
Previously, they were using a telematics provider to report on safety behavior—such as speeding and harsh braking—that they regularly coached drivers on. Despite their drivers abiding by safety protocols, Nutrien Ag Solutions’ accident rate wasn’t going down. To get to the root of the issue, they needed sightlines into and around the cab. Additionally, they sought out a platform-level partner to consolidate and modernize their systems with the ultimate goal of managing their combined fleet of over 75,000 assets in a single location.
Partnering with a single solution to consolidate operations.
While Nutrien Ag Solutions knew they needed dash cams, they didn’t want to simply add another provider to their tech stack. Instead, they focused on finding a strategic, long-term partner to consolidate processes across their entire business. AI Dash Cams not only provide the visibility they were looking for, but the Connected Operations Cloud™ eliminates the need for several systems. Another key differentiator for Nutrien Ag Solutions was their close partnership with the Samsara team throughout implementation—installing multiple devices across their fleet of 15,000 vehicles is no small task, but Samsara’s level of support and easy-to-deploy solutions allow them to experience benefits right away.
Earning leadership buy-in with a results-driven pilot program.
Before deciding to deploy Samsara dash cams across their entire fleet, Nutrien Ag Solutions ran a pilot program in select divisions to gain leadership buy-in. Kyle Springs, Senior Director of Safety and Health, worked closely with the Samsara implementation team to design and execute the program. “Our previous safety coaching was manual. We didn’t have in-cab visibility into distracted driving or instantaneous correction of risky behaviors,” said Springs.
After the three-month-long program, they experienced a remarkable 51% reduction in unsafe driving and a 49% reduction in distracted driving solely using real-time, in-cab alerts. After sharing the results with Nutrien Ag Solutions leadership, Springs gained enthusiastic support for the initiative. “Throughout my career in safety, there’s not likely going to be another opportunity to reduce unsafe behavior by 50%,” said Springs. Once organization-wide implementation was underway, Springs credits early change management strategies and top-down communication as instrumental to earning widespread buy-in among drivers.
As they scale the rollout, Nutrien Ag Solutions continues to see significant decreases in unsafe behavior and distracted driving, and have exonerated drivers involved in not-at-fault accidents with dash cam footage. “As we get to the end of installation, we continue to see those numbers drop," said Springs. “That’s the greatest indicator that people are buying into it—they're responding to the real-time coaching and bad habits are decreasing.”
Reducing distracted driving by 50% with in-cab alerts.
After deploying Samsara dual-facing AI Dash Cams as part of a pilot program, Nutrien Ag Solutions quickly confirmed that distracted driving was the reason their accident rate was holding steady. Now, when AI Dash Cams detect distracted driving, drivers are prompted to self-correct in the moment with in-cab alerts, enabling Nutrien Ag Solutions to reduce unsafe and distracted driving by 50% in just three months.
LEARN HOWAccurate reporting today. Optimizing fleet management tomorrow.
Nutrien Ag Solutions’ previous telematics system provided limited safety insights and wasn’t truly integrated with their business, creating inefficiencies for both their back office and branches. They also had concerns about data integrity and security, and lacked the ability to pull to-the-minute insights when making timely decisions.
After rolling out Vehicle Telematics, Nutrien Ag Solutions has regained confidence in their data with the knowledge that Samsara reporting is 100% accurate and available in real time. The Connected Operations Cloud has seamlessly integrated with their business, streamlining work across their dispersed teams.
As a prominent brand, Nutrien Ag Solutions’ vehicles are often targets for theft. Recently, they used GPS tracking to pinpoint the location of the stolen vehicle and quickly recover it, saving thousands of dollars in vehicle replacement costs.
In the near future, they’re excited to use telematics data to reduce their insurance premiums—as policy renewals come up, they’ll share individualized vehicle data from Samsara with their insurance provider to secure a lower rate. Finally, they plan to dive into vehicle utilization reports to inform their fleet replacement and maintenance strategies.
Data confidence means faster, smarter decision-making.
Before Samsara, Nutrien Ag Solutions primarily used telematics data for safety reporting that was inaccurate and unavailable in real time. With Samsara Vehicle Telematics, they have peace of mind that their safety data is not only correct and secure but actionable in the moment. Samsara’s comprehensive data also enables them to go beyond safety to dive into their efficiency habits and vehicle utilization.
LEARN MOREOEM integrations reduce hardware needs, saving $1,050,000 in one year.
For Nutrien Ag Solutions’ vehicles that are 2019 or newer, they’re able to integrate vehicle OEM telematics data directly with Samsara, without the need for additional hardware. Not only has this saved a significant amount of time that was previously spent on installation, but they saved $750,000 in hardware installation costs and are saving $300,000 annually in recurring costs.
End-to-end visibility informs supply chain decision making.
As a forward-thinking company, Nutrien Ag Solutions’ goal is to build a connected fleet where their vehicles and equipment are managed in one location. But prior to Samsara, they relied on multiple systems to manage their diverse portfolio of assets which proved inefficient for both fleet management and branch operations.
Samsara’s Vehicle Telematics and Video-Based Safety solutions provide insights into their commercial vehicles but they needed a way to surface their agricultural equipment data in the same view. The John Deere Operations Center integration (available in Samsara’s App Marketplace) aggregates their OEM equipment data in Samsara, giving them end-to-end visibility of their combined fleet. Nutrien Ag Solutions is now able to make big-picture decisions from a management perspective as well as day-to-day decisions at the branch level (such as dispatching). “The goal is to have a one-stop shop to manage our 75,000 assets and we’re leveraging the capabilities between Samsara and John Deere to do so,” said Lorenz.
Uniting vehicle, asset, and equipment data for easier management.
With 1,500 locations and more than 75,000 total assets, maintaining complete operational visibility is costly and complicated for Nutrien Ag Solutions. By integrating OEM data from both their vehicles and John Deere equipment with Samsara, they’re able to unite their combined asset data to lay the foundation for a truly connected fleet. With vehicle OEM integrations alone, they saved over $1 million in hardware costs in just one year.
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