How Hansen’s Tree Service Keeps Costs in Check

Prior to adopting Fleetio, Hansen’s managed its fleet of chippers, tub grinders, skid loaders, semi-trucks and associated assets with software that was more suited to a repair shop than a fleet. As a result, the company had minimal visibility of their fleet-related spending and the statuses of their vehicles and equipment.

But shortly after Fleet and Asset Director Travis Amrine was brought on board, he was asked what Hansen’s needed to take its business to the next level. He identified that they needed a platform that could provide them with instant, anytime and anywhere access to any fleet information they might need. Then, after a brief search, Hansen’s chose Fleetio.

Goal 1: Track Costs with Greater Precision

Do you know what you spend on each individual piece of equipment? No? That’s where you go to start. In order to accurately bid jobs, you have to know what that piece of equipment is going to cost you to run in that environment. Travis, Fleet and Asset Director

Before they started using Fleetio, Hansen’s only tracked their fleet expenses on the macro level—they knew their total annual spend, but they didn’t monitor asset-specific costs. Today, Hansen’s is able to keep a close eye on everything from $400 chainsaws to equipment worth more than $1.5 million. This granular visibility makes it far easier to catch opportunities to take advantage of a warranty or use parts already on hand, thereby reducing instances of unnecessary spend.

Fleetio features that support this goal:

• Expense tracking and cost analysis tools →
• Customizable fleet management dashboards →
• Advanced reporting and analytics tools →
  
  

Goal 2: Coordinate More Effectively with Shops

While Hansen’s does employ a small team of technicians, when assets experience issues in the field or require specialized attention, the company often tasks repair shops to restore them. And while this approach has been mostly uneventful, prior to adopting Fleetio, communication difficulties between Hansen’s employees and shops occasionally caused major headaches.

Near the start of Travis’ time at Hansen’s, a shop failed to notify anyone at the company that they had finished repairs on a rented asset for weeks.

The rental charge was significant—$3,000 to $4,000/week. And their piece of equipment had been repaired for two weeks, sitting outside. Nobody told them. So that was $6,000 to $8,000 that had been spent 100% unnecessarily. Travis, Fleet and Asset Director

Fortunately, Fleetio makes it far easier for Hansen’s to track the statuses of their assets on their end so they can keep shops accountable. Now, whenever a shop claims to have not worked on a particular asset, the folks at Hansen’s can view that vehicle or equipment’s service history to confirm whether that’s accurate or not. Having a definitive source of truth ensures that costly mixups like the one involving the rented asset aren’t repeated.

Fleetio features that support this goal:

• Vehicle service histories →
• Preventive maintenance scheduling →
• Fleet reports →
  
  

Goal 3: Unify Operations via an Easy-to-Use App

Change is difficult for all kinds of businesses, but deploying new software can be particularly challenging for fleets. When drivers and technicians have grown accustomed to a certain way of doing things, new tools are often met with skepticism.

Hansen’s rollout of Fleetio was no exception to this pattern, at least at first. Travis sensed that his personnel initially perceived his push for Fleetio as a move to turn a family-style working environment more corporate.

But when these folks actually saw how Fleetio would make their jobs perceivably easier, they quickly got on board.

I wanted it to be effortless. And that’s the nice thing about the Fleetio system. It is effortless. If you input a comment into the system, it immediately lets anybody that’s watching that know. And that to me is a big thing because, if you try to make the guys do an extra step, it doesn’t get done. Travis, Fleet and Asset Director

This ease of use has played a huge role in making Hansen’s Fleetio rollout a success. As obvious as it may sound, when fleet personnel don’t have to fight the software they’re expected to use, they leverage those tools more consistently and effectively (to their organization’s benefit).

Fleetio features that support this goal:

• Work order management →
• In-app collaboration tools →
• Integrations with existing systems →
  
  

Why Fleetio Was the Right Choice for Hansen’s Tree Service

By providing Hansen’s with complete visibility over their fleet assets and spending, Fleetio has equipped the company with the information they need to optimize their operations and pursue their growth goals. They’ve already been able to eliminate some consistent operational challenges, and as they load more data into Fleetio over time, Travis expects they’ll be able to do more with that data.

I think that the more we put into it, the more we’re going to get out of it. And I think the easier it’s going to be for us to have this information. It’s literally at our fingertips. Travis, Fleet and Asset Director

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