BearCom Recovers Vehicle, Strengthens Safety with Geotab GO Devices and Dash Cams

Headquartered in Garland, Texas, BearCom is a leading two-way radio supplier and security solutions provider with 70 locations across North America. With nearly 700 vehicles in its fleet, including roughly 600 in the United States, the company operates a service-oriented fleet that looks very different from an over-the-road trucking operation. But the priorities are the same: keep drivers safe, protect assets, and control costs.

“Safety is a priority at BearCom,” said Kristi Carlson, Senior Director of Procurement at BearCom. “Every employee should leave work in the same condition they arrived.”

That commitment to safety — paired with a growing need for fleet-wide visibility — led BearCom to a telematics investment that has already delivered a dramatic, real-world payoff.

The Challenge: Limited Visibility and Rising Premiums

Before partnering with Transflo, BearCom’s fleet lacked a unified telematics strategy, and some branches were sourcing their own solutions.

At the same time, insurance premiums continue to climb, echoing a hurdle felt across the transportation industry, and one that becomes even more acute with every vehicle incident on record.

“Our primary goal is improving safety. An improvement in safety would mean fewer vehicle incidents. The fact that few vehicle incidents would also lead to lower insurance premiums was a welcome benefit,” said Alex Vasquez, Supply Chain Operations Supervisor at BearCom. “We decided it’d be a good time to go ahead and start implementing telematics and dash cams.”

The Solution: A Fleet-Wide Telematics Rollout

BearCom worked with Transflo Strategic Account Manager Dwight Miguel to buy and deploy Geotab GO devices across its entire U.S. fleet. Assured Telematics by Transflo also helped with implementation. The benefits of fleet-wide telematics, including improved safety, asset tracking, and a path to lower insurance premiums, made the investment a clear fit.

In addition to GO devices, BearCom elected to deploy Geotab GO Focus AI dash cams to roughly one-sixth of its U.S. fleet.

The rollout has also opened up day-to-day operational benefits beyond safety. “Branch managers now use geofencing and GPS tracking data to better understand vehicle locations and movement, helping dispatch drivers more efficiently between customer locations — improving overall logistics and response times,” said Vasquez.

The Results: A Stolen Vehicle Recovered in Hours

While BearCom is still about a year away from seeing the full impact of telematics on its insurance premiums, the investment has already proven its value by helping recover a stolen vehicle in Texas.

One night, thieves targeted a BearCom vehicle parked at a driver’s residence. Using what appeared to be a key fob relay device, they bypassed the vehicle’s security system and drove off. The thieves noticed the Geotab GO Focus dash cam and ripped it out, assuming they had eliminated any tracking capability. What they didn’t realize was that BearCom hardwires its GO devices into every vehicle. The fleet asset tracking device kept transmitting location data the entire time.

“It was important to us, when we were looking to implement a telematics system, that we had a robust and complete system.  For us, that included having ELD systems hardwired in all our vehicles, so we would have immediate information about the location of our vehicles,” said Vasquez.

By morning, the driver reported the theft to the police. By the time the police arrived at the driver’s residence, the BearCom employee, using the Geotab platform, was able to provide law enforcement the vehicle’s exact location. Police recovered the vehicle in less than an hour, and the vehicle was returned to BearCom with minimal damage.

“From an operational standpoint, the time, effort, and cost required to repair that vehicle was far, far less than if we had to replace it,” said Vasquez. “It was a huge win.”

A Strong Partnership with Transflo and ATI

BearCom credits Transflo as a responsive and collaborative reseller partner throughout the deployment process and beyond.

“Transflo is open to new ideas, and they generate feedback to help us improve our experience with Geotab. When it comes to customer service, they are very quick to respond and are results-oriented,” said Vasquez.

“Great partner from a procurement standpoint as well,” added Carlson.

Assured Telematics by Transflo is proud to be Geotab’s No. 1 reseller. To discover more about the benefits of Geotab devices and Transflo service and innovation together, we invite you to request a demo or visit our pages on fleet telematics and GO Focus dash cams.