US Fleet Tracking Integral in D&E Supply’s Early Success

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 28, 2014)—When Ernie Cothern and David Stephenson partnered to create D&E Supply, a drywall distribution corporation in Tulsa, Okla. only a few years ago, they’ll readily admit they knew they were undercapitalized. Even with 35-plus years of experience, they needed to look at every expenditure very closely to ensure keeping the doors open. Choosing US Fleet Tracking as their GPS tracking company was no different. While they label the decision as one of their most pivotal since opening the business, as they see it, cost-savings is not the primary aspect of the service. More than that, US Fleet Tracking’s live 10-second tracking and all its technology offers has now become a powerful revenue generator for the company.

“I know how important it is to know where your equipment and people are. As I asked a few friends in the industry who they used, I was getting the same answer: US Fleet Tracking,” said Cothern “The interesting thing I immediately heard when talking to the company was that the product and technology wouldn’t save me money….it would create revenue! I wanted to know how, and I’ve never been disappointed.”

The location-based aspects of GPS tracking are well-documented, and Cothern has benefitted from this in ways he hadn’t calculated: “I take a look at each day’s invoices and then with the Vapor Trail function a quick view of who and how the day’s workload was accomplished. Very often by changing a few details we empower our mobile teams in covering more ground, and thus, handling more jobs.”

US Fleet Tracking’s first-to-market live GPS tracking, offering 5 and 10-second updates, can be accessed on any web-based system, including all mobile platforms, and offers an in-depth tracking solution through added features like live traffic and weather overlay, multi-dimensional geo-fencing, and historical playback.

When D&E Supply opened as a small company bidding for jobs against much bigger entities, Cothern, in the business for three decades, knew they needed more than the partners’ reputation of integrity to garner the competitive edge needed to be recognized. “I knew a lot of our competitiors had GPS tracking, but our representative at US Fleet Tracking emphasized something that has added greatly to the service. If you pay attention to what it’s telling you, and look at the data, you’ll make good decisions. I took that as meaning that the more I used it, and more ways I implemented it, the harder it would work for us. It truly has.”

One such example had to do with an employee who was making a decision that didn’t seem counterproductive to him, or the company, but when explained to him, and shown by example with US Fleet Tracking’s software and features, as well as given a solution by Cothern, the employee not only realized the benefit to the company, but to himself personally. “When the company does better, our employees benefit as well, through bigger checks, and larger bonuses. It’s funny; it gives a sense of team, and of working together, that you might not initially think of GPS offering.”

Amber Chase, US Fleet Tracking’s sales representative in charge of the D&E Supply account, credits Cothern’s knowledge of the system as key to the company’s added success since bringing US Fleet Tracking aboard: “Ernie is so knowledgeable about how to use our system, and he implemented it in so many ways almost from the start. The company is only about 2 years old, and he credits our services in playing a big part in his company having so much success in its first year.”

Cothern concludes, in summarizing D&E’s partnership with US Fleet Tracking, and what it means to the drywall corporation: “David and I have been helped by people a lot along the way, and we enjoy assisting others to be successful. Therefore, I’m talking about US Fleet Tracking a lot these days. David races sprint cars, and even asked to put the US Fleet Tracking logo on his car. He displays it proudly.”

US Fleet Tracking is the leader in live vehicle and asset tracking, providing groundbreaking sub-ten-second live GPS tracking. In addition to expertise in tracking commercial vehicles, the company provides tracking services to high-profile, large-scale public venues. These include the 2010 Winter Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympic Games, 2012 Republican National Convention, and Super Bowls XLI through XLVII. For more in-depth details, and to access a live demonstration of US Fleet Tracking’s system while in motion, visit https://www.usfleettracking.com.

D&E has over 35 years of experience serving Oklahoma builders, architects and independent contractors as a drywall and drywall supply source. The company has been working in the Tulsa, Oklahoma and surrounding areas for over three decades, and prides itself on an acute awareness of specific customer needs, and the drywall supply order chain. For more, find us at www.dandesupply.com.

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