Salisbury Trucking improves their CSA score after switching from Motive

THE CHALLENGE

Motive's unreliable technology and poor support impeded operations at Salisbury Trucking

Salisbury Trucking is a fifth-generation, family-owned business with an unwavering commitment to serving their local community. "We haul primarily milk and go from farm to farm—serving dairies all across the Midwest," said Chris Reitz, Director of Safety. Their 24/7 operation responds to daily deliveries, midnight harvest emergencies, or seasonal demands, with no margin for error. That’s why having a technology partner and support that matches their dedication to the communities they serve is critical. 

Salisbury Trucking’s previous provider, Motive, proved to be a liability for a fleet that operates around the clock and jeopardized their ability to serve their customers effectively. Unreliable customer support was a critical failure with excessive and disruptive response times, wasting valuable time. "We were on hold with Motive once for hours, and we never did get an answer," said Reitz. For operations where accidents and incidents rarely happen during working hours, this support failure created a significant risk.

Motive's unreliable video retrieval failed Salisbury Trucking when it mattered most. Retrieving footage was slow, often requiring dozens of manual refreshes. Without reliable video evidence to contest violations, CSA scores climbed, creating a costly cycle. "Once your score goes up, you become a target for roadside inspections and you get pulled over at a higher rate," said Reitz. 

Motive's lack of customizability, for functions like daily inspections, forced Salisbury to use a system that did not meet their needs. “Rather than adapting to our established workflows, Motive required us to compromise how we work to fit their system," said Reitz. “When I would call them and ask for an outside-of-the-box solution to a problem, their reply was just, ‘We don’t do that.’”

These accumulated challenges led Salisbury to actively seek an alternative solution. “We couldn’t get rid of them fast enough,” said Reitz. 

WHY SALISBURY TRUCKING CHOSE SAMSARA OVER MOTIVE

THE SOLUTION

Samsara's customer-first approach delivers what Motive couldn't

Salisbury Trucking partnered with Samsara to implement AI Dash Cams, Vehicle Gateways, and Asset Gateways across their fleet. This move was largely driven by a need for a better customer service experience. Unlike Motive's offshore support model, Samsara provides dedicated, North American-based specialists who deliver faster, more personalized service and truly understand the unique challenges that fleets face.

With Motive, Salisbury Trucking’s drivers were penalized when their HOS clocks started as soon as the truck began to roll, which didn't leave time for inspections. Samsara solved this by providing a custom ELD solution that lets drivers complete their inspections before they formally log in and their time clock begins. 

"What impressed me most about Samsara is that they actually came to our company, sat down with our team, and took the time to understand our operations. They didn't just sell us a product; they made specific recommendations tailored to our needs, which showed they truly cared about what we're doing," said Reitz. 

The Samsara AI Dash Cams, in particular, were a game-changer for Salisbury. Footage from the dash cams had the clarity and detail needed to resolve incidents quickly and definitively—a stark contrast to Motive's unreliable video retrieval system. Recently, a Salisbury Trucking semi-truck was hit by a car that ran a stop sign. The high-definition video from the Samsara AI Dash Cam clearly showed the other vehicle running the stop sign, even capturing its approach from half a mile away. Because the video evidence was so clear and easy to retrieve, the police issued a ticket to the at-fault driver, and Salisbury Trucking was completely cleared. “If we still were using Motive, we couldn't have resolved the situation as quickly due to all the issues we’d had with their video quality and retrieval,” said Reitz. 

The in-cab alerts fundamentally transformed driver behavior across the fleet by targeting speeding, following distance, and rolling stops—providing proactive coaching capabilities. "Once those in-cab alerts started going off, it literally changed our world," said Reitz. The company reinforced adoption by integrating Samsara data into driver bonuses, creating financial incentives for safer driving that measurably improved safety while maintaining productivity.