Transportation & Warehousing

Reefer freight company unlocks savings and reliable service after switching from Motive

With Samsara, an owner-operator trucking reduced severe speeding by 97%, cut video retrieval time by 98%, and exonerated drivers.

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The Challenge

Motive’s slow customer service and partnership impacted this reefer freight’s bottom line

A family-owned transportation company established in 1987, this trucking company specializes in temperature-controlled freight for major clients, including Schwann's, Spirit Aerosystems, and Kroger. Operating coast-to-coast with 41 trucks and 73 reefer trailers, they transport everything from fresh produce to aerospace components requiring precise temperature control.

Prior to switching to Samsara, they faced significant challenges with their previous solution, Motive, that impacted their safety and bottom line. Simple requests, such as ordering additional ELDs, took weeks to process due to a multi-step fulfillment process. This inefficiency created an increased risk of compliance violations and operational delays. "A simple question would take a week to get answered. It was a slog to get anything done," said the Director of Safety.

Retrieving crucial video evidence after an accident was complex and time-consuming—another major pain point. It was hampered by connectivity issues and mandatory review by Motive's team, which delayed incident resolution with law enforcement and complicated insurance claims. The Director of Safety explained: "In one instance, the officer needed to see the dash cam footage at the scene of the accident, and we couldn't comply. I had to retroactively add the video to the traffic report. It was painful."

Beyond support issues, Motive's platform lacked crucial functionality that this reefer transportation company needed. It lacked split berth functionality, which meant their drivers had to manually track their rest periods—increasing the risk of being out of compliance with ELD mandates. Additionally, the absence of reefer integrations left the company with blind spots when transporting temperature-sensitive freight, risking cargo integrity and customer satisfaction.

With the support Samsara provides, we'll be partners for a long time. I tell anyone who asks: ‘If you're smart, you'll go with Samsara.'

Director of Safety

The Solution

Samsara provides immediate video access and dependable support

The company implemented Samsara's comprehensive fleet management solution, including AI Dash Cams, Vehicle Gateways, and the Driver App. "After comparing Motive to Samsara, including pricing, flexibility, and functionality, partnering with Samsara just made sense," said the Director of Safety.

Samsara’s unified platform offered key features that were missing with Motive, such as accurate mapping data to improve ELD compliance and CSA scores. Samsara also included an automated split sleeper berth functionality, ensuring they adhere to ELD regulation requirements.

For the company’s temperature-controlled freight, Samsara’s continuous innovation provided a capability Motive didn’t offer at the time—reefer integration. "I can't compare something that didn’t exist to something that does," the Safety Director said. "With Samsara, we directly integrate our ThermoKing trailers to get real-time updates on our cargo."

The most significant upgrade was the dramatic improvement in video retrieval. In contrast to the previous time-consuming process with Motive, Samsara provides immediate access to critical footage, helping the company work with law enforcement on the scene to exonerate drivers on the spot. "It literally takes five minutes to recover the video, send it to the driver, and share it with the officer at the scene," said the Director of Safety.

When the company needs support, they can depend on Samsara's North American-based team. Complex situations that once took days or weeks to resolve are now handled in minutes. "Samsara’s support is in a different league. Their team is knowledgeable and can answer my questions. I haven’t had one issue where I couldn’t pick up the phone and have it resolved in a couple of minutes,” said the Safety Director.

The Results

Easy video retrieval means fast exonerations and money saved

Samsara's AI-powered safety features and real-time data transformed how the company manages risk, protects its drivers, and secures their bottom line. Since switching from Motive to Samsara, the company has seen a 97% reduction in major speeding events, from 235 monthly events to just six. Samsara’s AI Dash Cams provide real-time, in-cab alerts for risky behaviors, allowing drivers to self-correct before an incident occurs. Unlike Motive, Samsara pairs these proactive alerts with accurate speed limit data, which has eliminated hundreds of false alerts that were common with Motive due to outdated map data. “Motive's maps were outdated, which meant we were constantly getting false ‘critical speeding’ alerts for drivers who were actually driving the legal limit,” said the Director of Safety. “I think I manually correct these errors at least 50 times. With Samsara, the maps are always up to date and we have virtually eliminated this problem.” As a result, drivers and managers have confidence in the reported speeding data, leading to measurable improvements.

When incidents do happen, Samsara's user-friendly, self-service dashboard has led to a 99% reduction in video retrieval time—from two days to five minutes—saving administrative time and protecting the company from fraudulent claims. This rapid retrieval recently saved the trucking company $60,000 when one of their drivers was falsely accused of running a red light, causing a collision, but dash cam footage exonerated them.

This ability to quickly exonerate their drivers has strengthened the company’s position with their insurance providers and helped maintain favorable rates. "Since moving to Samsara, we’ve been exonerated from every not-at-fault incident, and that video is the only thing that saved us,” said the Director of Safety.

For a company that transports temperature-sensitive cargo, Samsara's integration with ThermoKing reefers has been a critical upgrade, providing real-time visibility into trailer temperatures. This allows them to remotely adjust settings before a minor issue becomes a major loss. In one instance, a driver hauling a frozen load forgot to reset the temperature for his next shipment of produce. Thanks to the real-time alerts, the safety team caught the issue and remotely adjusted the temperature, successfully saving the $80,000 load. “Samsara helps us meet customers’ expectations of how we take care of their product," said the Safety Director.

Switching to Samsara has helped the company save money and create a safer experience for their employees.