Case Studies

Fleetio is the lifeblood of our trucking operation, ensuring safety, compliance, and reliability. Dylan Lee, General Manager of Logistics, The Beach Timber Companies

Challenge: Managing a Fleet Through a Natural Disaster

In September 2024, Hurricane Helene tore through the southeastern United States, leaving widespread power outages and infrastructure damage in its wake.

For The Beach Timber Companies (BTC Logistics), headquartered in Blackshear, Georgia, the storm hit close to home — knocking out power at their mill for six consecutive days.

Even as local utilities scrambled to restore power, Beach Timber faced an urgent mission of its own: deliver wooden utility poles to critical areas where electricity was down.

With more than 280 assets across two locations, including knuckle-boom cranes, trailers and heavy construction equipment, the logistics team needed to keep its fleet safe, visible and operational under extreme conditions.

Solution: Fleetio Keeps Operations Moving in the Dark

Despite losing power and internet connectivity, Dylan Lee and his team continued operating with the Fleetio Go mobile app.

Drivers and technicians could still log inspections, note maintenance issues, and track work orders, even when offline. Once connectivity returned, their data synced automatically, preserving a complete digital record of fleet activity during the outage.

We were without power for six days, but we were still moving. We were still operating. Fleetio let us document what needed to be fixed later, and that kept us ready when the lights came back on. Dylan Lee, General Manager of Logistics

Beach Timber’s up-to-date maintenance program ensured equipment readiness, and spare trucks were effectively utilized during the six-day power outage. Fleetio’s centralized platform helped Beach Timber maintain DOT and FMCSA compliance while monitoring preventive maintenance (PM) schedules, part allocations, and expenses across its entire fleet.

Impact: Reliability, Visibility & Smarter Utilization

When the storm subsided, Beach Timber emerged stronger, and more confident in the systems supporting its fleet.

The Beach Timber team examines historical data to optimize utilization. Fleetio’s dashboards and reporting tools gave the team a clear picture of asset and driver utilization, helping them strike the right balance between efficiency and resiliency.

I track asset utilization and driver utilization every week. Fleetio gives us the visibility to see where every truck stands, so we can run lean without losing reliability. Dylan Lee, General Manager of Logistics

By monitoring distance traveled, driver hours, and PM compliance, Beach Timber achieved roughly 80 percent asset utilization across its active fleet — a healthy target for their mix of specialized equipment. The company also maintains “spare” vehicles, and 3rd party partners to ensure continued uptime during scheduled maintenance or unexpected repairs.

Fleetio’s reporting capabilities also brought company-wide transparency. Leadership can now view maintenance status, open work orders and cost trends instantly, creating accountability and smarter decision-making across both sites.

Results

• Continuous operation during six-day power outage following Hurricane Helene
• 80 %+ asset utilization maintained through data-driven fleet tracking
• Improved CSA maintenance scores and reduced unplanned downtime
• Full visibility across 280 assets and two locations

Looking Ahead

After turning Fleetio into an operational command center, Dylan Lee now calls the platform “the backbone of our fleet.”

Whether responding to natural disasters or optimizing day-to-day performance, The Beach Timber Companies continues to use Fleetio to maximize uptime, strengthen compliance, and ensure every asset is ready when it matters most.