Lytx Posts Record Level of Contract Value in 2018, CEO Brandon Nixon Says
Lytx, the maker of the DriveCam video system for commercial truck fleets, posted a 30% increase in the number of vehicles using its technology in 2018 as more companies adopt in-cab cameras to reduce risk.
The privately held San-Diego based company declined to disclose total revenue for 2018 but said it had added 122,000 vehicles to its network, bringing the total number of rigs with DriveCam cameras to 530,000.
“We added over $200 million in contract value to the company, which is a record level for us,” CEO Brandon Nixon said. “We deployed our DriveCam event recorders into 122,000 vehicles. That is about 550 for every business day. When we first got started, 550 was a really good year.”
Lytx, owned by private equity firms Clearlake Capital Group, GTCR and others, supplies video cameras to commercial trucking fleets, which use them to help drivers improve and also provide video evidence in the event of an accident.
Lytx camera technology (Lytx)
Having a video record is particularly important to large trucking companies, which often are self-insured.
Lytx is not the only San Diego firm providing in-cab video to commercial fleet operators. SmartDrive System competes directly with Lytx in video telematics, most recently inking deals with auto shipping firm Cassens Transport Co. and Acadian Ambulance Services.
“Transportation is in a period of significant change and technological innovation,” SmartDrive CEO Steve Mitgang sad. “The flexibility of our solution and ability to meet the needs of fleets of every size and across industries is a key driver of growth.”
Lytx has about 60% market share in the current number of commercial vehicles with video monitoring in the United States, according to Nixon. Its three largest competitors have a combined market share of around 20%, he said.
Lytx drive camera booth at ATA Management Conference & Exhibition
But competition is heating up as rivals battle for the estimated 25 million commercial fleet vehicles operating in North America that don’t have in-cab video. Worldwide, the potential market is 130 million commercial vehicles.
“Video has become almost expected, where if you don’t put video into a commercial fleet you are starting to be seen as irresponsible to your shareholders and your drivers,” Nixon said. “The drivers, at the end of the day, it makes them better and it protects them from falsely being accused.”
Lytx, SmartDrive and others usually sell camera-based monitoring to commercial fleet operators on a subscription basis, offering software to support driver training, route analysis and other services.
For example, Lytx has been applying artificial intelligence algorithms and machine vision techniques to its video data for more than a decade, Nixon said, so that the company can help customers pinpoint risk areas in the routes that their drivers typically use. The company says it has analyzed more than 100 billion miles of driving data, adding 50 million miles every day.
