Construction, USA

“Many industries need a reliable GPS solution, and we’ve found Samsara is by far the most reliable. We completely trust Samsara’s data.”

BRIAN JONES, CEO, DAUBER

Construction materials startup Dauber builds their truck routing and billing tools on Samsara’s fleet management platform:

• Company required accurate real-time location data with flexible developer APIs

• Integrated data from Samsara VG-series gateways deployed in owner-operator trucks, with the Dauber App to coordinate haulers with customers

Highlights:

• Samsara API supplies real-time vehicle locations and pickup/dropoff locations for efficient dispatching in the Dauber Dispatch App

• Modern REST API enabled fast integration with minimal programming

• Live fleet tracking enables fleet owners to see their entire fleets and real-time progress

• The API delivers historical trip data, including geofence information, for clear billing and payments calculations

Brian Jones is a construction expert: he’s worked in the industry as a general contractor for over 20 years, coordinating the design and building of commercial and residential structures. Jones focused on improving productivity, operational efficiency, and profitability of projects, ultimately working on over $500M worth of commercial construction projects.

Throughout the years, Jones observed a big problem in the construction industry. Now he’s on a mission to fix it.

“Every job needs material hauled out, then hauled in.”

There are three typical areas that transfer dirt and stone back and forth: material suppliers, job sites, dump sites.

General contractors don’t have dependable vehicles to move the construction materials, nor do they have deep knowledge of material suppliers. They hire owner-operators who specialize in moving these materials on a one-off basis.

On the other hand, owner-operators work without the efficiency of scale. They’re paid to pick up earthworks at job sites, then must pay a fee to dispose of the materials at retired quarries or farmland. They’re lucky if they find a job site that will pay them to unload the material, even though many exist at any given moment.

Jones estimates that owner-operators spend only 48% of their time actually moving material. The rest of their time they are driving empty or not using their vehicle.

“A dump truck only makes money when it’s moving material. There is enormous downtime and inefficiency.”

Jones knew there had to be a better way to coordinate general contractors and earthmoving owner-operators. He began looking for a solution to coordinate the owner-operators, organizing the supply-side and building a product for the buyer-side, the general contractors.

When a friend mentioned Samsara, especially the real-time location data and easy-to-use API, Jones knew he had found the solution to this massive logistics problem. Dauber now provides Samsara VG-series gateways to all their owner-operator partners. The drivers install the gateways in their dump trucks in minutes, simply plugging the cable into the J1939 connector, and zip-tying the gateway under the dash.

Dauber’s software uses the Samsara API to analyze pickup/dropoff sites, compare them with real-time vehicle locations, then efficiently dispatch trucks. The dump truck drivers log in to the Dauber App on their smartphones, where they are assigned to jobs. The API supplies historical trip data, including geofence information, which the team uses for billing and payments to contractors.

The Dauber team relies on the Samsara Dashboard to supply their partners real-time visibility, one of their big selling points.

Dauber’s network of owner-operators also benefit from Samsara’s real-time GPS. When they operate more than one vehicle, they use the Samsara Dashboard to see all their vehicle locations in real-time. They receive alerts if vehicles enter/exit geofence locations or have engine fault codes. This is transparency they’ve never had - it allows them to see all their vehicles without calling every driver.

Ultimately, the Dauber team relies on Samsara’s API and dashboard for consistent data, delivered instantly in an accessible format.

“It’s worth the cost of the Samsara platform for the data reliability, among all the other reasons. Whether you’re a startup or mature company, this is a no-brainer.”

Jones estimates that by using Samsara’s location data and smart routing, he’ll help owner-operators run up to 50% more hauling jobs. Dauber provides more work for contractors, suppliers, and other trucking companies. The Samsara platform frees operators to drive more loads, increases their profitability, and makes it easier for contractors to request materials.

Interested in trying Samsara for free? Get in touch.