Superior Plus Propane Using Safety Cameras

Superior Plus Propane is using a new safety product that provides 360-degree visibility into safety incidents like sideswiping and backup collisions. Superior Plus Propane is a propane distributor serving 24 states across the U.S. with 2,300 trucks and more than 1,000 drivers. The fuel marketer is an early adopter of this new safety product, provided by Samsara, which specializes in video-based safety systems for commercial fleets.

Samsara’s Connected Operations Cloud, a SaaS platform, is designed to help businesses that depend on physical operations harness IoT (Internet of Things) data and analytics to develop actionable business insights and improve their operations. 

Superior plans to use its existing cameras for extended visibility with the Samsara Camera Connector, with the following anticipated results:

Projected decrease in backup incidents due to extended visibility from the Camera Connector, which connects Superior’s cameras to Samsara’s Connected Operations Cloud.

Projected annual savings from false property damage claims with the ability to pull third-party camera footage via cloud-based retrieval.

6x faster installation time to deploy Camera Connector compared to ripping and replacing existing cameras.

Because Superior Plus Propane mainly delivers propane to homeowners, drivers frequently reverse large bobtail trucks into narrow residential driveways. Every year, backup incidents and property damage claims cost the business.

Even though Superior installed third-party backup cameras with in-cab monitors on about 750 vehicles, they were still experiencing backup incidents. Since the footage wasn’t viewable by their safety team, they had no visibility to coach drivers or investigate call-ins regarding property damage.

Superior needed a way to leverage their existing camera investments to give their safety team more visibility, especially since their business is growing by acquisition. “Many of the vehicles we acquire already have different camera systems installed. It’s not easy to rip and replace existing cameras,” said Bruce Ruppert, Director of Fleet.

With Samsara, Superior’s team has seen how effective video-based coaching can be. Less than six months after installing Samsara AI Dash Cams, they achieved a 90% reduction in speeding. Now, Samsara’s Camera Connector is enabling them to expand the success of their video-based safety program to another priority area—reducing backup incidents—all within the same platform, while leveraging their existing camera investments.

Per vehicle, each Camera Connector takes Superior’s in-house team approximately 20 minutes to install and integrate with their existing cameras, compared to 2+ hours to rip and replace existing cameras. Once installed, the Camera Connector will provide the ability to view their backup footage in the Samsara dashboard alongside dual-facing footage from Samsara AI Dash Cams.

With this extended visibility, Superior’s safety team can coach drivers more effectively on their backup protocols. “It will give us the opportunity to watch our drivers actually perform the task and take a deeper look into how they are or are not following protocols,” said Ryan Quiggle, Director of Health and Safety. They anticipate this will help them significantly reduce backup incidents, while also building trust with drivers and strengthening their entire coaching program. “Having the Camera Connector will allow us to sit in our drivers’ seats and walk in their shoes,” said Quiggle. “It will give us a much clearer picture into their exposure and the hazards they’re facing.”

Plus, with the ability to retrieve footage from up to 70 hours of drive time, the Camera Connector will make it possible for Superior to investigate call-ins and exonerate drivers from false property damage claims. “There are many instances where we’re told we backed into something,” said Quiggle. “Now, we will be able to go back and easily retrieve the footage to prove when it wasn’t us, avoiding that unnecessary cost.”

As a result of extended visibility from the Camera Connector, Superior Plus Propane expects to significantly reduce backup incidents and costs related to false property damage claims. Plus, because each Camera Connector is 6x faster to install compared to ripping and replacing existing cameras, it will save Superior’s team hundreds of hours. Samsara operates in North America, Mexico, and Europe and serves thousands of customers across a wide range of industries including transportation, wholesale and retail trade, construction, field services, logistics, utilities and energy, government, healthcare and education, manufacturing, and food and beverage.

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