Samsara Extends Tracking to Small, High-Value Assets
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CHICAGO — Connected fleet technology provider Samsara has launched a new tracking device for small assets and is adding new features to enhance driver safety and streamline workflows and remote training.
The company introduced these new products and outlined its vision for further connecting fleets and physical operations during its 2024 Beyond conference June 26-28.
CEO Sanjit Biswas said Samsara is working with its customers to capture data and translate it into insights that in turn enable them to improve their businesses in a variety of ways, such as enhancing safety and security, increasing sustainability and saving time for frontline workers.
In the last year, Samsara processed more than 9 trillion data points as its fleet customers drove 60 billion miles, he said.
“That’s a staggering amount of data that we can use to compute and find insights,” Biswas said.
Samsara’s new Asset Tag enables companies to track small, high-value items such as toolboxes or special equipment. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
Moving forward, the company is enabling its customers to collect data on even more types of assets. Building upon its existing vehicle and trailer telematics offerings, Samsara is now connecting specialized equipment and tools to the cloud with its new Asset Tag.
Fleet operators can use the thumb-sized device to track and manage small, high-value assets such as toolboxes, jackhammers and chemical totes to minimize time searching for lost or stolen items and simplify inventory management.
The device has a four-year battery life and is designed to withstand rigorous environments in industries such as transportation, construction and oil and gas.
“As you can see, this thing is tiny, but it’s tough as nails,” Kiren Sekar, Samsara’s chief product officer, said as he introduced the product on stage.
Sekar introduces the company’s new Asset Tag. (Samsara)
The industrial grade Bluetooth tracker works by tapping into Samsara’s expanding network of cloud-connected devices deployed across the United States and internationally.
“About a year ago, the Asset Tag was born from a radical idea that we could use the millions of Samsara Gateways we have out in the field to create a network, enabling ‘tags’ to ping off those devices,” said David Gal, vice president of product and engineering at Samsara. “As we further connect every aspect of physical operations, we can turn massive amounts of data into valuable insights and drive real results.”
Gal explains use cases for Samsara’s new Asset Tag. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
Samsara customer Pike Corp., a provider of infrastructure services for electric and gas utilities, has begun testing the Asset Tags as a way to track buckets containing $7,500 worth of specialized service gloves that the company needs to track, manage and inspect to remain compliant with regulations.
“Previously, misplaced equipment would take us weeks to locate and, if lost entirely, cost up to a million dollars to replace annually,” said James Banner, senior vice president of administration at Pike Electric.
On the safety front, Samsara is rolling out new video-based safety features that issue real-time alerts to drivers.
These artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities include drowsy driving detection, which utilizes the company’s AI Dash Cams to monitor factors such as eye movement and yawning to alert drivers when they are dangerously fatigued.
Samsara hardware on display at the conference. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
The company also is offering lane departure and forward collision warnings to help drivers operate safely and avoid potential crashes.
In addition, Samsara introduced a new feature designed to digitize and streamline multistep workflows to improve accuracy and save time for frontline workers and administrators alike. Connected Workflows can automatically assign forms, manage approvals and create tasks based on events such as entering a geofence or detecting a vehicle crash.
NexTier Completion Solutions, an oilfield services firm that operates a large private fleet, said it has saved drivers time and improved data accuracy by digitizing its journey management forms and automating that workflow via Samsara.
.@Samsara introduces new #AI-enabled safety features to detect drowsy driving and provide forward collision and lane departure warnings at #Beyond24. pic.twitter.com/xvJtafAHDf — Seth Clevenger (@SethClevenger) June 27, 2024
Previously, drivers had to fill out a paper questionnaire, take a photo of the completed form and submit it via email, said Amy Wilson, NexTier’s director of DOT and fleet compliance.
“It was very time consuming and we couldn’t guarantee we could get every employee to follow it,” she said.
Today, drivers using the new workflow answer those same questions on a digital form in their driver app without the need to search for a pen or complete manual calculations. A process that used to take 5-7 minutes is now down to 1-2 minutes, Wilson said.
Houston-based NexTier ranks No. 13 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America.
Samsara also introduced Connected Training, which enables fleets to provide customizable driver training through continuous remote learning via the Samsara Driver App. Managers can consolidate all training within the Samsara platform and connect with existing workflows.
Arias (center) and Dhillon (right) describe how they are using connected vehicle technology alongside Biswas. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
During the conference, Samsara highlighted some unique ways its customers across North America and Europe are utilizing its technology.
Mexico-based longhaul trucking company Trayecto is using Samsara to help coach its drivers and enhance safety, but the fleet is also using the technology to improve security, CFO Carlos Arias said.
A panic button feature enables Trayecto’s drivers to get in touch with the company within seconds when they have a health issue, see something suspicious or encounter a theft event.
“Our drivers are not alone anymore,” Arias said. “We’re getting better and better at safeguarding our people and our assets.”
Otto Car, a London-based car supplier for rideshare drivers, has been harnessing data from Samsara to help electric vehicle drivers locate charging sites and better understand how to drive more efficiently, CEO Gurinder Dhillon said.
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