DeSilva Gates Protects and Optimizes Their $200M Equipment Fleet with Samsara
With Samsara Connected Forms, Asset Tag, and more, DeSilva Gates effectively protects their fleet and optimizes their workflows.
Meet DeSilva Gates Construction
Inefficient systems were costly and left DeSilva Gates vulnerable to theft.
DeSilva Gates Construction, a Bay Area-based company established in 1932, provides clients with a wide range of services including demolition, excavation, trucking, earthwork, and hazardous materials removal. DeSilva Gates faced several critical challenges that hindered its operational efficiency and financial performance. Due to manual tracking of equipment and paper-based processes, DeSilva Gates experienced significant inefficiencies and delays, making it difficult to address issues promptly. Limited visibility into the location of their equipment led to high risk of equipment theft, compromising their ability to recover stolen assets. Additionally, inaccurate billing and extensive administrative work meant costly inefficiencies and increased labor costs. These challenges collectively impacted DeSilva Gate’s safety protocols, operational accountability, and overall bottom line.
Automated tracking and real-time monitoring transform DeSilva Gates Construction.
With Samsara, DeSilva Gates has seen improved efficiency, significant cost savings, enhanced safety, and better accountability across its operations. The ability to quickly address issues and provide clear evidence in case of incidents has made a substantial positive impact on the company's bottom line and operational effectiveness.
Saving $2.34M annually by preventing job delays caused by paperwork inefficiencies.
Previously, incomplete maintenance checks meant that faulty equipment was often delivered to job sites, causing significant delays. With Connected Workflows, these issues are reported and addressed immediately, ensuring jobs start on time. As a result of preventing equipment delays, DeSilva Gates saves an estimated $45,000 a week, translating to approximately $2.34 million saved annually.
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Minimizing labor costs and reducing paper usage.
Prior to Samsara, DeSilva Gates experienced inefficiency due to manual paperwork for safety inspections and equipment status reporting. This outdated process led to delays in addressing equipment issues, causing job disruptions and increased costs. It was clear that DeSilva Gates needed a more streamlined solution to improve efficiency and safety.
"With Connected Workflows, our safety inspections are now all digital and automated,” said Rich Poppoff, Equipment Superintendent. “Drivers are prompted to complete inspections on time, and any reported issues are submitted and addressed right away." This new system prevented job delays, saving the company approximately $45,000 a week, or $2.34 million annually.
With Connected Workflows, DeSilva Gates is able to accelerate issue response times and streamline work order creation. By eliminating manual tracking and administrative tasks, DeSilva Gates has reduced administrative time by 90% and reduced paper usage, saving $600 a month.
Protecting a $200M equipment fleet from theft.
DeSilva Gates has an expansive fleet of over 350 pieces of heavy construction equipment, valued at $200 million. Asset Tag helps DeSilva Gates add a layer of protection to their most high-value assets and provides comprehensive tracking of smaller, previously untracked equipment. The enhanced tracking capabilities not only deter theft but also improve inventory management, ultimately boosting operational efficiency.
LEARN MOREDiscreet and durable Asset Tag enhances equipment tracking.
Over the last few years, DeSilva Gates has experienced increased equipment theft from large machinery to small tools. These thefts resulted in substantial financial losses and operational disruptions, highlighting the need for a discreet tracking solution.
DeSilva Gates was already using Samsara Asset Gateways (AGs) to track high-value assets, such as excavators worth $185,000, but was interested in a location-tracking solution that thieves were less likely to discover. Furthermore, DeSilva Gates could not track smaller tools such as chainsaws, which frequently disappeared. This led to the turnover of about a third of their equipment every year. “Smaller assets are much easier to steal because a guy can just load them up on a trailer and go,” said Popoff. DeSilva Gates needed a solution that would enable them to reliably track their equipment without being detected by thieves.
Poppoff reached out to his account team at Samsara, who told him about Asset Tag, which he asked to beta test. Immediately, it was clear that Asset Tag was discreet yet rugged. "They don't stand out like a traditional GPS box with a blinking green light,” said Poppoff. “They blend in seamlessly."
Durability was a necessity for DeSilva Gates, since they use heavy equipment in harsh environments. Despite the small size, Poppoff was pleased to see how Asset Tag performed in the field. One was embedded inside the aluminum head of a piece of equipment and still successfully transmitted location data.
Asset Tag use the Samsara Network, an industrial network comprising millions of devices that give organizations near real-time visibility across all of their assets. "I wanted to test the network’s coverage so I installed it on my pickup truck,” said Poppoff. “It registered on the Samsara Network, even in rural areas where none of our job sites are located.”
After seeing Asset Tag in action, Poppoff plans to double up on location tracking devices to protect against theft. He will keep his existing AGs, while discreetly embedding Asset Tag as a backup tracker. And, even if thieves find and discard the AGs, the hidden Asset Tag will continue to transmit location data, ensuring effective tracking and recovery of stolen assets. This strategy adds an extra layer of security, making it harder for thieves to evade detection.
Ensuring accurate billing and saving $60,000 annually.
By tracking the exact hours of their rented equipment usage with Samsara Asset Gateways, DeSilva Gates ensures that billing reflects actual usage instead of relying on estimates or manual reports. This precision removes discrepancies and prevents fraudulent entries, ensuring clients are billed correctly and transparently. Additionally, the automated tracking reduced the need for administrative work, eliminating annual labor costs of $60,000.
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Real-time visibility into equipment usage improves back-office efficiency.
Though DeSilva Gates’ previous GPS provider offered data into equipment location, they needed visibility into equipment usage. Manually tracking their equipment led to inefficiencies, particularly for rented equipment.
With Samsara Asset Gateways, DeSilva Gates gained the ability to monitor equipment precisely, enhancing their operational control and accountability. "We needed a way to bill accurately for equipment usage,” said Poppoff. “With Samsara we now had a monthly report with the exact hours the ignition was on and the equipment was running."
This solution allowed them to quickly transform their billing process, eliminating discrepancies and fraudulent entries. This automated tracking reduced the need for manual administrative work, saving $60,000 annually. “With Samsara, you can’t cheat it,” said Poppoff. “It's very simple: you turn the key, and you're paying for it."
Overturning 90% of insurance claims with Samsara AI Dash Cams.
Samsara AI Dash Cams provide DeSilva Gates with a powerful tool to improve safety, protect and exonerate drivers, and achieve substantial cost savings—allowing them to enhance their coaching and safety program. As a result, DeSilva Gates estimates they’ve been able to reverse 90% of insurance claims against the company with dash cam footage.
LEARN MOREReducing incidents and exonerating drivers.
DeSilva Gates Construction wanted to improve driver safety and protect them and the company from false claims. Without clear video evidence, the company often found itself at a disadvantage, with drivers wrongfully blamed for accidents.
To address these challenges, DeSilva Gates implemented Samsara AI Dash Cams to help improve safe driving behaviors. The results were immediate. "The dash cams are worth every penny,” said Poppoff. “Right away, we saw a drop in wrongful claims and improved driver accountability."
The dual-facing cameras captured comprehensive footage, ensuring that both the road and the driver's actions are recorded. In-cab alerts help with real-time correction of unsafe behaviors, such as mobile phone use. "The in-cab alerts are like a safety manager in the truck all the time," said Poppoff. “It makes coaching so much easier.”
The clear video evidence helps exonerate drivers when incidents occur, significantly reducing wrongful claims. This not only protects drivers, but also saves the company in litigation costs and insurance claims. "With the video evidence, we’ve been able to reverse 90% of the claims against us, saving us from hefty legal and settlement fees,” said Poppoff.
Furthermore, DeSilva Gates uses Virtual Coach to send drivers the actual footage from the incident to help improve accountability. As a result, driving behavior has improved and there are fewer events that require coaching. “When we first started reviewing videos, I had maybe 200 videos a day. Now, I maybe have six,” said Poppoff. Always on the cutting edge, DeSilva Gates is also testing Connected Training, which allows them to send courses based on coachable events, directly to the Driver App. Poppoff anticipates this will streamline coaching even further.
