Samsara Inc. (“Samsara”) (NYSE: IOT), the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, today announced USIC, the leader in underground utility damage prevention, selected Samsara to digitize its operations and enable improvements in safety, efficiency, and sustainability. USIC leverages Samsara Video-Based Safety, Panic Button, and Vehicle Telematics to enhance its safety program and gain efficiencies that can lead to timely service for its customers and reduced costs for the business.
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Samsara & USIC (Graphic: Business Wire)
Twenty million miles of underground infrastructure connect the United States to the power, water, and communication services essential to every home and business. More than 12,000 USIC field service technicians operate across the nation, marking these utility lines to both protect and maintain this critical infrastructure and ensure public safety. USIC completes about 84 million projects annually, and demand for its services is growing as the U.S. population rises in rural regions and the government invests in new infrastructure projects.
“USIC is accelerating the massive infrastructure expansion happening from coast to coast. Bridging the digital divide by bringing Internet services to rural communities, establishing new underground power lines so the lights stay on when a storm surges, and much more – this is all important work for our nation’s future,” said Richard Batelaan, Chief Operating Officer at USIC. “With the real-time data we receive from Samsara, we can do this work safely and effectively. Samsara’s technology is essential to keeping our technicians out of harm’s way and delivering the services our customers need to keep their communities running.”
Protecting Thousands of Technicians with a Technology-Driven Safety Program
USIC is on a journey to reach zero safety incidents and zero injuries. Its focus is eliminating at-risk behaviors, strengthening its Safe-Life culture, and equipping employees with new training and tools. Samsara Video-Based Safety enables USIC to better support and coach its technicians on the road through real-time incident detection and preventative in-cab coaching. In addition, footage from Samsara AI Dash Cams allows USIC to recognize outstanding performance and lower risky driving behaviors at scale. With Samsara Panic Buttons, technicians can alert managers of emergencies or compromising situations. In its pilot with Samsara, USIC reduced mobile phone usage by 92%, no seat belt instances by 85%, and rolling stops by 50%.
“Increasing safety for our technicians behind the wheel is critical as crashes are the number one risk they face,” said Tom Karnowski, Vice President of Environment, Health, and Safety at USIC. “We evaluated other vendors but right off the bat, it was clear the safety improvements we could make with Samsara. Samsara’s platform interface is also a cut above the rest, it’s extremely user-friendly – even those with zero training sessions could navigate it easily.”
Streamlining Operations to Increase Sustainability and Better Serve Customers
USIC is invested in being a good environmental steward and is committed to sustainability in all aspects of its operations. With Samsara Vehicle Telematics, USIC expects to increase fuel efficiency across its fleet which means less carbon emissions in the atmosphere and lower fuel costs. In addition, USIC can improve vehicle utilization and customer service as a result of real-time data on the location of its vehicles and their maintenance needs. With its previous provider, this data was delayed by 20 minutes, causing unnecessary pauses in action.
“For our customers, minutes and even seconds matter. Maneuvering our workforce to the right place quickly, especially during emergencies, means trust in knowing where people are, where they were, and where they can go next. That’s where Samsara’s strength as a unified platform comes into play,” said Karnowski. “With Samsara’s platform, we can see the bigger picture of what’s happening in our operations and make adjustments throughout the day. We’re excited to discover all of the improvements we can make with this level of detail at our fingertips.”
“Real-time data from Samsara helps some of the world’s biggest operators solve their most complex challenges,” said Lara Caimi, President of Worldwide Field Operations at Samsara. “USIC’s ability to strategically innovate and deploy new technologies to better serve their employees and customers is remarkable. USIC is a clear leader and we’re proud to be a part of the critical work they do to shape and protect our communities.”
To learn more about how Samsara is digitizing the world of physical operations, visit here.
About Samsara
Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, which is a platform that enables organizations that depend on physical operations to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. With tens of thousands of customers across North America and Europe, Samsara is a proud technology partner to the people who keep our global economy running, including the world’s leading organizations across construction, transportation and warehousing, field services, manufacturing, retail, logistics, and the public sector. The company’s mission is to increase the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the operations that power the global economy.
Samsara is a registered trademark of Samsara Inc. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
About USIC
USIC is America’s largest provider of underground utility damage prevention services with operations in 48 states and corporate headquarters located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company, which serves more than 1,400 telecommunication, electric, gas, water, and sewer utilities, as well as municipalities, performs over 84 million locates each year. Additionally, USIC provides a range of advanced utility services and solutions offered by its affiliate companies, Blood Hound, Reconn Utility Services, and On Target Utility Services.
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