The Tandet Transportation Group: Boosting Bypass Opportunities with Drivewyze

Boosting Bypass Opportunities with Drivewyze

For the Tandet Group, the ability to evolve business practices to meet changing operating conditions is what’s been the key to its success since the Oakville, Ontario company first opened in 1979. Since its founding, Tandet has become a leading provider of liquid and dry bulk transportation services. In the past decade, they have experienced accelerated growth in their transportation division through their companies: Tandet Logistics, Tandet Dedicated, RG Transportation, Loadmasters, Connell Transport, and ShipNorthAmerica Transportation. According to Lisa Little, the reliability of Tandet’s drivers to complete deliveries efficiently and safely has played a significant role in the steady growth of its transportation division. Tandet is proactive in identifying new solutions to support driver productivity, safety on the road, and operating efficiency.

“As a family-operated company, we work hard to create an environment where drivers feel part of the family,” said Little. “They are the key to our success, which is why we provide them with the tools and training they need to succeed in their jobs and offer competitive pay and benefits.” One of the latest integrations the company undertook was switching from PrePass to Drivewyze PreClear to increase the number of weigh station bypass opportunities its drivers received. As a result, Tandet has significantly reduced driver downtime and improved the efficiency of freight being delivered.

Bypass Opportunities in Canada

Tandet has focused on reducing the time drivers spend at weigh stations by utilizing a weigh station bypass service, which it has done for the past seven years. This strategic choice has increased driver productivity among their staff across all six transportation companies. But, due to the nature of its business and where its trucks operate, only 30% of its vehicles could receive bypass opportunities through PrePass. When Schroder learned that its ELD provider, ISAAC Instruments, offered an integrated solution that would allow its drivers to receive Drivewyze’s weigh station bypass service through its ELDs, Schroder’s interest in changing providers grew. Since Drivewyze offers bypass opportunities in Ontario and at over 840 sites in the United States, Tandet’s drivers would receive significantly more bypasses if they switched services. Since Drivewyze runs through Tandet’s ISAAC ELDs instead of transponders, activating the service was easy, according to Schroder. Previously, Tandet used a set of in-cab transponders to receive weigh station bypass opportunities through PrePass and toll management services from Bestpass.

“Activating Drivewyze was a matter of creating a Drivewyze account and activating the Drivewyze app on our trucks’ ISAAC ELDs. It was well worth the effort to switch to a weigh station bypass solution that gives us more bypass opportunities even if it meant unbundling PrePass and Bestpass. We now use Bestpass as a standalone service for toll management.” When drivers receive a notification that they can bypass an upcoming weigh station, they receive an audible and visual alert on their ELDs one and two miles from the site. “It’s much easier for our drivers to know whether they need to pull in or continue on with the alerts Drivewyze provides rather than listening for a ‘beep’ from a transponder,” said Schroder. “Having access to Drivewyze through our ISAAC devices is a simpler solution for us to receive weigh station bypass opportunities compared to using transponders.”

With Drivewyze, Tandet has access to its online portal – Drivewyze HUB – to view near-real-time data on bypass rates, number of bypasses drivers receive, estimated operating savings through using the service, and more. The company also receives monthly reports that summarize bypass data and estimated operating cost reductions. “The reports we receive from Drivewyze give us a lot of insight into where and how frequently our drivers are bypassing weigh stations,” said Schroder. “We’re already seeing a significant uptick in the average bypass per truck since the transition to Drivewyze earlier this year.” According to Schroder, now that the company is receiving more bypass opportunities since switching to Drivewyze, he sees weigh station bypass service as a ‘must-have.’