EnviroVac reduced parts costs by 42% with Connected Maintenance

An intuitive and connected maintenance solution, rolled out with hands-on support at all six locations

EnviroVac already ran Samsara telematics for GPS tracking and DOT compliance, so extending the same platform to maintenance meant no new vendor to evaluate and no second application for mechanics to learn. "We were paying more than $5,000 a month for a maintenance platform we were barely using. I went to our CFO and made the case for one platform: one system, one billing cycle," said Martinez. The company deployed Samsara Connected Maintenance, consolidating work orders, preventative maintenance schedules, DVIRs, and maintenance cost tracking into the same platform they were already using every day.

EnviroVac rolled out Connected Maintenance with support from Samsara:

• Samsara also facilitated a single bulk upload of maintenance history, eliminating the need for manual entry by EnviroVac’s team. "Bulk uploading our maintenance records saved hours of work during the Connected Maintenance implementation," said Martinez. "Partnering with Samsara meant we were working with a team that sets us up to succeed."

• Configuration followed the structure the business already had. "We already track all our equipment by office in our master fleet list, so we just added the tags. It was simple to do," said Martinez. EnviroVac's 369 assets were tagged by location, so work routed to the correct shop and mechanic from day one.

• Rather than adopt a default inspection template, the company opted to build a custom DVIR template. "We asked our mechanics what they needed to see, then built our own template with our Samsara account team. It was easy," said Martinez. "Whenever we need something, they make it happen."

With assets tagged and historical records loaded, the company could build its preventative program on that foundation. Preventative maintenance schedules were configured with automated alerts that give shops advance notice to book a unit in before its service comes due. "We set preventative maintenance schedules by mileage and engine hours, so mechanics and operations managers receive the alerts. It’s 100 times better than what was in place before," said Martinez.

The work order itself was built as a single end-to-end flow. Now, a defect raised on a DVIR can be opened as a work order on the spot. The shop foreman or lead mechanic assigns the reported issue, sets a priority, and tracks it through to closeout—with receipts captured from a phone or a computer. Because mechanics only see the assets under their location, each shop works from its own queue rather than a shared list.

Change management was treated as the core of the rollout, not a final step. EnviroVac’s Samsara account team delivered training classes across all six locations to equip the company’s own trainers, as well as co-delivered sessions for mechanics as the rollout progressed. "With the train-the-trainer approach, Samsara opened my eyes to exactly what I need to teach our mechanics," said Martinez. Sessions were structured with a crawl-walk-run progression: demonstration, a check on learning, then hands-on practice, reinforced by weekly follow-up calls. "After showing the mechanics that everything is at their fingertips in Samsara, they were more open to what Samsara brought to the table than with Fleetio," said Martinez.

Asset-level data that makes the case for capital investment

With repair costs, service history, and inspection defects captured and consolidated with Samsara Connected Maintenance, EnviroVac now quantifies what each asset costs to maintain—and use that evidence to support capital planning. After two years of limited fleet replacement, the company justified approximately $4.5 million in new equipment purchases, including vacuum trucks and service vehicles, by presenting cumulative repair spend and defect history for the units being retired. In one example, a unit put forward for replacement carried more than 30 recorded defects. "If I go to our board and say I need 10 vehicles, the first question is why," said Martinez. "Samsara Connected Maintenance gives me the analytics—what we've spent on that vehicle and if it keeps breaking down. Now we can show exactly why it needs to be replaced."

That same visibility extends to day-to-day cost tracking: monthly maintenance spend is now the first thing the team checks, and the cost of any individual truck takes seconds to look up. Against the same five-month period a year earlier, maintenance spend is down 24% and parts costs are down 42%.

Daily execution has tightened alongside reporting. Because DVIR defects now convert directly into work orders, EnviroVac creates work orders 2x faster so the shop receives and completes repairs quicker. "Starting a work order straight from the DVIR in Samsara is at least two times faster. You’re not backing out into another tab, and the lead mechanic can assign it right there," said Martinez. DVIR history has also become a management tool, surfacing repeat-defect patterns that paper reports concealed and giving the company verifiable inspection records, including timestamps, inspection duration, and photos.

That groundwork is now carrying the company’s next expansion. With all EnviroVac locations trained and working in one system, bringing newly-acquired Vecta onto Samsara has meant repeating a known process rather than building a new one. "With Connected Maintenance customized to our operations, we’ve already built the foundation to smoothly onboard new companies as we grow," said Martinez.