Wholesale Trade

Wholesale supplier saves over $200,000 with proactive cargo monitoring after switching from Motive

Samsara’s integrated platform enables this wholesale supplier to significantly improve safety, fuel efficiency, and operational workflows while protecting valuable assets and ensuring compliance.

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The Challenge

The company found Motive's platform unreliable, with persistent compliance risks and operational failures

A wholesale supplier delivers temperature-sensitive food from coast-to-coast, serving major retailers and requiring absolute reliability in their fleet management technology.

They observed significant operational and compliance challenges with Motive's ELD system. Frequent disconnections, unassigned miles, and missing logs occurred multiple times a week, forcing drivers to call management at all hours for emergency troubleshooting.

Motive's customer support compounded these issues. The company was shuffled between three different account representatives, requiring them to re-explain their technical issues. The support representatives relied heavily on generic troubleshooting scripts rather than providing tailored solutions. "It was like talking to a robot," said the director of transportation. "They read off a list of troubleshooting options without understanding the actual issue." This led the wholesale distributor to stop calling support altogether and rely on constant device reboots as a workaround.

The company found that the unreliability of Motive's platform posed serious business risks. Unassigned events could lead to DOT violations, fines, and negatively impact their CSA score. For a company transporting high-value, temperature-sensitive cargo worth up to $100,000, a reliable system is non-negotiable.

“When it comes to compliance, you can't afford a cheap fix like Motive. We needed a system that we can rely on, and have the peace of mind that our CSA scores won’t go up for a missed log. Samsara is an investment in long-term safety and accountability."

Director of Transportation

The Evaluation

Samsara delivers reliability and support that Motive couldn't match

After conducting a comprehensive evaluation comparing Samsara and Motive, the wholesale distributor’s decision became clear. "At first glance, Motive may appear similar, but the superior product quality and unmatched customer service that Samsara delivers made it an easy and definitive decision for us,” said the director of transportation.

They implemented Samsara's suite of fleet management solutions, including AI Dash Cams, Environmental Monitors, Cargo Sensors, Asset Tags, and Vehicle Gateways. The platform provides real-time insights, automated compliance processes, and enhanced operational visibility that Motive's fragmented system simply couldn't deliver.

Unlike Motive's frequent ELD disconnections, the company found that Samsara's ELD is more stable. While Motive's support couldn’t effectively solve issues, Samsara's reliability and North American-based support team reduced emergency calls from drivers and the risk of compliance violations. "When it comes to compliance, you can't afford a cheap fix like Motive,” said the director of transportation. “We needed a system that we can rely on, and have the peace of mind that our CSA scores won’t go up for a missed log. Samsara is an investment in long-term safety and accountability."

To maximize impact during implementation, the wholesale distributor strategically approached driver buy-in. "To establish a baseline, we didn’t tell drivers about their safety scores for the first four months," said the director of transportation. "Then, we announced our driver bonus program based on those scores. The improvements were immediate."

The Results

$200K saved. MPG up by 12%. Safety scores now average 90+.

Samsara's integrated platform provided the company with complete visibility to transform their operations—delivering results that Motive could not. By using Samsara AI Dash Cams, the company easily coaches drivers and improves safety. As a result, safety scores improved by 23% to over 90, on average, rolling stops decreased by 96%, speeding by 80%, and harsh braking incidents dropped by 72% in a single quarter. “The cameras gave us the transparency to coach drivers effectively,” said the director of transportation. “We can use actual incidents as training opportunities to make everyone better tomorrow.”

These safety improvements translated directly into fuel savings. Across their entire fleet, they improved fuel efficiency by 12%. "Simply changing driving habits saved us thousands in fuel costs," the director of transportation said. "We're now targeting idling for even more savings."

Beyond fuel, Samsara protects their high-value cargo and equipment. With loads valued at up to $100,000, the company deployed Samsara Environmental Monitors and Cargo Sensors to prevent temperature-related product loss. This system intelligently adjusts alerts based on whether a trailer is loaded or empty, reducing false alerts by 50%. “With Samsara, we’ve prevented over $200,000 in potential losses over three years,” said the director of transportation. “The sensor cost is minimal compared to the value of a single load.”

The wholesale distributor has made a strategic, long-term investment in Samsara, and the director of transportation is eager to explore new ways to future-proof their operations. This includes exploring solutions like AI Multicam, Samsara Maintenance, and Commercial Navigation, to increase safety and efficiency. The director of transportation sees the platform as the ultimate solution for continuous improvement across safety, operations, and administration.

"Samsara is truly a one-stop shop,” said the director of transportation. “It's great that the platform is constantly expanding and addressing future questions and needs we may have down the road. It really gives me confidence that Samsara will be the solution to all our future challenges."