Decker Truck Line Improves Operating Efficiency by Switching to Drivewyze and Bestpass  

The Company

Founded in 1931, Decker Truck Line is a household name in the Midwest and beyond for those in need of reliable temperature-controlled, dry van, and flatbed services. It operates a fleet of 750 Peterbilt and Volvo trucks with a reach that spans the U.S. and Canada.  

Decker Truck Line is proactive in finding opportunities to operate more efficiently. The company was recently named a winner of the Best Fleets to Drive For program, which recognizes the industry’s top workplaces for drivers. Decker Truck Line is also committed to operating sustainably and is a SmartWay partner. SmartWay is a program under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that helps companies advance supply chain sustainability by measuring, benchmarking, and improving freight transportation efficiency. 

Two-Fold Opportunity

Decker is a company that uses technology to its advantage. If there is a better solution, they want to know about it. In 2021, they began working with Drivewyze and Bestpass – improving their weigh station bypass and toll management programs. 

Bypass: To improve operating efficiency, Decker Truck Line requested a Weigh Station Cost Analysis report to compare its previous weigh station bypass and toll management provider (PrePass) to Drivewyze. The company wanted to see which weigh station bypass provider offered more bypass opportunities for its drivers. “After learning about Drivewyze and its product offerings through our ELD provider, I was convinced it would be worthwhile to compare the two to see what worked best,” recalled Brent Ellis, VP of Business Systems & Processes for Decker Truck Line.” 

During the comparison, Decker Truck Line downloaded the Drivewyze PreClear app onto all of its trucks’ Transflo ELDs. Since no transponders were needed to access Drivewyze’s service, activation took only a matter of minutes. During the comparison, company drivers received bypass opportunities from both providers.  

It was clear that our trucks were receiving significantly more bypass opportunities with Drivewyze and that making a switch in providers, even if it meant unbundling weigh station bypass and toll management services, would be worth it. And it has been. The transition couldn’t have been easier.

Brent Ellis, VP of Business Systems & Processes at Decker Truck Line

In one of Decker Truck Line’s monthly Drivewyze reports, the 674 company trucks that were activated with Drivewyze bypassed 4,573 weigh station sites. Some of Decker’s trucks receive up to 42 bypasses per month. By reducing time spent at weigh stations by 380 hours during that month, it’s estimated that bypasses helped save the company nearly $40,000 in fuel expenses. It also saved more than 20.5 tons of CO2 that would have otherwise been emitted, which is the emissions equivalent of nearly 51,000 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle.  

Toll Management: Shortly after Decker Truck Line made the switch to Drivewyze, the company started to evaluate toll management solutions.  

“We were referred to Bestpass and were impressed with the services they offered and that they covered all the main toll roads throughout the country,” said Ellis.  

Bestpass works with over 50 tolling authorities across the U.S. and has coast-to-coast coverage. They help fleets take “toll” off their plate while giving visibility into how toll dollars are spent.  

Decker determined Bestpass would help alleviate pain points in back-office management of tolls and quickly installed Bestpass transponders. According to Ellis, Bestpass’s invoicing system and back-office management tools were what impressed Decker Truck Line the most about the provider. With Bestpass, they get one toll bill, and one account – and they’re able to auto-pay bills from the cash deposit in their Bestpass account. When cash in the account runs low, it automatically withdraws funds from a Decker Truck Lines bank account so there is always enough money to pay incoming toll bills.  

“Bestpass offers a system that simplifies the accounting process for our team and the back-office management tools make it easier to monitor expenses,” said Ellis. “The Bestpass platform and the support we’ve received from their customer service team has been top-notch.” 

Drivewyze and Bestpass – Teaming Together for Premier Customer Service 

With Drivewyze and Bestpass recently announcing a partnership that will align the two providers together to create a streamlined solution for fleets seeking or already using weigh station bypass and toll management services, Ellis said he expects it to only strengthen both providers. 

We’ve experienced nothing but great support and service from both Drivewyze and Bestpass since switching to these providers. The decision to go in a different direction for weigh station bypass and tolling services couldn’t have been easier and now that they’re partnering, managing these services on our end can only be better. This is a great announcement for companies utilizing both services.

Brent Ellis, VP of Business Systems & Processes at Decker Truck Line