CONSTRUCTION
Alterman reduces fuel costs by 10% with Samsara and Coast
Alterman unifies fleet tracking and fuel management by integrating Samsara and Coast, improving driver accountability, streamlining reconciliation, and reducing fuel spend.
Meet Alterman
400+ vehicles
350+ drivers
5 locations
The Challenge
Unreliable fuel cards and disconnected systems led to inefficiency and increased fuel costs
Alterman Management Group is a leading electrical construction and pre-construction management provider in Texas. With over 400 vehicles and five locations, Alterman needed better visibility into fuel usage across their expansive fleet to improve fuel efficiency and manage fuel costs.
Prior to Samsara, Alterman used company credit cards and third-party fuel cards to track fuel usage, but neither offered the security required to prevent misuse or establish limits on fuel spend. It was time-consuming to track down lost cards or fuel receipts, and since all fuel and fleet transactions appeared as one lump-sum charge, it was difficult for Alterman to differentiate between true fuel costs and extraneous expenses like car washes. Without the ability to track fuel usage and to keep drivers accountable, Alterman faced increased administrative burden, higher fuel spend, and even potential fraud.
Furthermore, with data scattered across various platforms, it was challenging for Alterman to create a central source of truth for fuel usage. "We never really had a single place to understand both our vehicle's activity and the driver's spending," said Christian Duarte, Fleet Manager. "This created a lot of extra work for our team, and we never had the full picture that we wanted."
Alterman needed a unified solution that connected fleet tracking with fuel management, so they could reconcile fuel expenses, improve driver accountability, minimize fuel fraud, and maximize operational efficiency.
With Samsara and Coast, we can be confident that our fuel management and costs are all aligned. Coast handles fuel spend, and Samsara ties in telematics. It's total fuel management.
Christian Duarte
Fleet Manager, Alterman
The Solution
Samsara and Coast integration transforms fuel management operations
Alterman deployed Samsara's Connected Operations Platform integrated with Coast's fleet fuel card, enabling them to transform their fuel management operations. With Samsara and Coast, Alterman gains real-time data, automated reconciliation, and improved receipt capture, unlocking an enhanced level of control across their fleet's fuel usage.
With Samsara and Coast, Alterman now has full visibility into fuel usage, improving driver accountability and enhancing productivity. Each driver is now assigned their own Coast fuel card and manages their own fuel-ups. By tracking fuel purchases through a driver's fuel card and setting controls like custom spend limits and verifying the vehicle's GPS location at the pump, Alterman is able to minimize unauthorized fuel purchases. In addition, Alterman is using Samsara and Coast to automate reconciliation, reducing administrative work and improving efficiency.
"The biggest shift since integrating Samsara and Coast has been the improved visibility," said Duarte. "What used to take our team days to reconcile now takes a couple of minutes. Beyond that, Samsara has helped us improve our driver accountability and prevent unauthorized purchases before they happen."
Integrating Samsara and Coast across their operations has also enabled Alterman to eliminate inaccurate odometer entries. In the past, drivers occasionally recorded incorrect mileage that would disrupt maintenance schedules. Since odometer data drives critical insights, such as fuel usage, maintenance tracking, idling, and overall vehicle health, these errors could quickly add up, leading to downtime and increased repair costs. With Samsara and Coast, the team now has reliable, consistent data, ensuring smooth operations and maintenance that stays precisely on schedule.
"With Samsara and Coast, we can be confident that our fuel management and costs are all aligned," said Duarte. "Coast handles fuel spend, and Samsara ties in telematics. It's total fuel management."
The Results
Unified fuel operations improve accountability, reconciliation, and fuel costs by 10%
With Samsara and Coast, Alterman consolidated their fuel management operations onto a single platform, significantly improving efficiency and fuel spend. Alterman now has real-time insights into fuel usage and vehicle performance, enabling them to make smarter decisions across their fleet. As a result of better visibility across their fuel operations, Alterman reduced fuel costs by 10%. Additionally, Alterman leveraged Samsara's unified platform to reduce reconciliation time from days to minutes and used Coast's user-level spend policies to strengthen accountability across their team.
"For us, it was more than just what we're spending on fuel—it's also about tracking costs accurately. Connecting Samsara and Coast fixed this," said Duarte. "At the end of the day, it's made running our fleet better, plain and simple."
Learn More