Achieving Efficiency and Cost Savings: Reducing Truck Rolls, Locating Costs, and Damages by Implementing Line-Scape Technology

Executive Summary

This case study explores the significant operational improvements achieved by implementing advanced digital locating technology.

The implementation of Line-View Professional by the mid-sized fiber company led to transformative results in their underground utility locating process.

Key achievements include:

• 47% Reduction in Truck Rolls: Preventing unnecessary truck deployments significantly optimized resource use.
• 68% Reduction in Locate Costs: Streamlined operations led to substantial financial savings.
• Improved On-Time Locates from 44% to Over 80%: Enhanced accuracy and timeliness of locates ensured projects started on schedule.
• 20% Reduction in Damages: More accurate and timely locates reduced utility damages and associated costs.
• Compliance and Safety Improvement: Late locates decreased from 56% to less than 20%, boosting compliance with industry standards and enhancing overall safety.

These results underscore the effectiveness of Line-View Professional in addressing critical challenges faced by the fiber company, leading to significant operational improvements and cost efficiencies.

About Line-Scape

Line-Scape’s SaaS software focuses on quickly reducing locating-related costs and damages. Our suite of products manage and report on every aspect of one call ticket management from 811 integrations, to locator dispatching & management, sophisticated GIS-based decision making and instant Digital Locates (replacing or supplementing human locators). Founded by industry veterans, Line-Scape is revolutionizing underground damage prevention.

Introduction

Background of the Client

This case study focuses on a mid-sized fiber provider, serving eight of the top ten metro markets in the United States providing critical infrastructure to over 1 million customers across the country. The company provides high-speed fiber optic internet services and relies on a third-party locator to mark underground utilities before excavation projects.

Industry and Market Context

The underground utility damage prevention industry is crucial for ensuring safe and efficient excavation projects. Accurate and timely locating of underground utilities helps prevent damages, reduces operational costs, and improves safety. However, this industry faces challenges such as rising locate costs associated with increasing 811 ticket volumes, late locates, and damages.

Problem Statement

The fiber company was grappling with several significant challenges:

• Rising Locate Costs: The expenses associated with identifying underground utilities were escalating, straining the company’s budget.
• Late Locates: Over half (56%) of the locates were completed late, causing the potential for fines and placing assets at increased risk for damage.
• Damages Related to Locate Challenges: Inaccurate or delayed locates often led to damages to underground utilities, increasing repair costs, operational disruptions and risk to the company brand reputation.

These issues not only affected the company’s financial performance but also posed safety risks and compliance challenges. The need for a more efficient and reliable locating process was evident.

Goals

The fiber company aimed to achieve the following goals with the implementation of the solution:

1. Reduce Locate Costs
2. Improve Timeliness of Locates
3. Decrease Utility Damages
4. Enhance Operational Efficiency
5. Boost Compliance and Safety

These goals were designed to address the primary challenges faced by the company, leading to improved operational performance and cost savings.

Overview of the Solution

To address the challenges of rising locate costs, late locates, and frequent damages, the fiber company implemented Line-View Professional, an advanced digital locating technology. Line View Pro is a SaaS product combining (i) advanced ticket & job management (ii) Acceleration of decision-making with cutting-edge screening solutions, combining software automation and expert human analysis to streamline truck roll approvals. (iii) instant Digital Locating which enables excavators to dig safely faster than ever before.

This solution was designed to enhance the accuracy, efficiency, and timeliness of underground utility locates.

Key Features:

1. Preventing Unnecessary Truck Rolls:
   1. Advanced Ticket Screening: Line-View Professional’s sophisticated ticket screening system prevents unnecessary truck deployments by identifying non-conflicting 811 tickets using advanced automation and expert analysis. This feature led to a 47% reduction in truck rolls.
2. Accurate and Timely Locates:
   1. Precision Mapping: The solution provides detailed and accurate digital maps of underground utilities and 811 work areas, ensuring that trucks are dispatched to the correct locations more frequently.
   2. Real-Time Updates: Continuous monitoring and real-time updates enable timely placement of paint and flags at job sites, which improved on-time locate completion rates from 44% to over 80%.
3. Cost Savings:
   1. Reduced Locate Costs: By optimizing the locate process and reducing unnecessary truck rolls, the company experienced a 68% reduction in costs associated with underground line locating.
4. Enhanced Safety and Compliance:
   1. Compliance Improvement: With more accurate and timely locates, the company significantly improved compliance with industry regulations, reducing the rate of late locates from 56% to less than 20%.
   2. Safety Enhancement: Accurate locates and timely responses led to a 20% reduction in damages, improving overall safety for excavation projects.

Conclusion

Summary

The implementation of Line-View Professional by the mid-sized fiber company led to transformative results in their underground utility locating process. Key achievements include:

• 47% Reduction in Truck Rolls: Preventing unnecessary truck deployments significantly optimized resource use.
• 68% Reduction in Locate Costs: Streamlined operations led to substantial financial savings.
• Improved On-Time Locates from 44% to Over 80%: Enhanced accuracy and timeliness of locates ensured projects started on schedule.
• 20% Reduction in Damages: More accurate and timely locates reduced utility damages and associated costs.
• Compliance and Safety Improvement: Late locates decreased from 56% to less than 20%, boosting compliance with industry standards and enhancing overall safety.

These results underscore the effectiveness of Line-View Professional in addressing critical challenges faced by the fiber company, leading to significant operational improvements and cost efficiencies.

Future Outlook

Building on the success in Texas, the fiber company plans to expand the use of Line-View Professional across all West Coast states. This strategic move is expected to further enhance their locating operations, driving continued growth and excellence in service delivery.