Resting in the small Southeastern Saskatchewan town of Carnduff, C & N Oilfield has provided chemical and maintenance services for oil well operations in Canada since 1987. When equipment needs servicing, chemicals need circulating, or supplies need delivering, C & N provides the support that oilfield workers need to complete their job safely and effectively. After growing their business and amassing a catalogue of expensive oilwell equipment which travels frequently to work sites, they needed to find a way to monitor the location of work-alone employees and the maintenance of their assets. That’s when management found the need for fleet management software and made the switch to Titan GPS for more accurate location tracking and a certified ELD.
Troubles with Tracking
In this family-run business, Wayne Carley is the president, his son is the VP and his daughter-in-law is the Office Manager. The Operations manager has been with the company for 36 years and his daughter also works for the company. For the past 10 years, Julie Wasilinchuk has overseen Health, Safety, and Environmental at C&N; recently, she and the team at C&N had been experiencing some issues with ELD and GPS connectivity. Their provider’s GPS hardware was losing service when functioning in remote areas, so Julie started to investigate a GPS provider that can operate in the wilderness with absolutely no interruptions.
C&N also provides services in southwestern Manitoba, where reception is already spotty to begin with. Their last provider was having issues maintaining a solid connection for location tracking and Hours of Service monitoring through their electronic logging device. Also, if a driver forgot to log out on a Friday night, or go off-duty, his logbook showed he was on all weekend. Once he returned on Monday, it was not an easy procedure to update the on-duty hours. “Numerous times on a weekly basis, I was emailing the provider saying this is an issue, that’s an issue, can we get this fixed? Please look at this unit, it’s not tracking like it should,” mentioned Wasilinchuk. This combination of frustrations prompted her to make the switch to Titan GPS.
Titan GPS Takes the Reins
Some of C&N’s employees often work in no-service zones and may need help 2-3 hours away from home base. The company needs to know exactly where they are on their job to ensure their safety. After cutting ties with their old provider, C&N went through a demo with Titan GPS. They started off by equipping just two vehicles; one with GPS only, and one with ELD only.
“The ELD went to Southwest Manitoba with crappy cell service, and never once did it lose connection. He never complained once about not being able to hook up to a truck or amend the logbook,” Julie said.
Their monthly safety meetings used to include conversations about conflicting on/off-duty hours, missing logs or pre-trip inspections, and syncing their management software to their vehicles. Now, there are no complaints in that department, meetings are shorter, and drivers can hit the road more quickly. Saving that time is essential for a company with 19 trucks, tractors for lease mowing and snow blowing, bobcats, backhoes, and more expensive equipment moving throughout Southern Canada every day.
After just three months spent with Titan GPS, C&N may look into our asset trackers to monitor trailers, hydro-vacs, and other towed equipment. She has been hearing about random occurrences of trailer theft in the area, and the only way the RCMP was able to locate the property was with asset trackers.
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When setting up the devices, C&N’s mechanic hooked up the cables and routed the hardware while Julie quickly activated each device with the help of their new Titan GPS software. The 19 vehicles were equipped, logged, and filed more expediently than they had even hoped.
“I sent an equipment list to Titan and as soon as we hooked up the cables in the truck, I went into the system as admin and filled out all the proper items that were required. It was good to go within 10 minutes,” Julie assured.
She enjoyed the contents of the vehicle setup package because it included a sheet for filling out the unit number, serial number, license plate number, etc. All of that information was able to be digitally sent back to her account rep and will be easily accessible to all users on the account for team clarity and vehicle visibility. In addition to the positives that she and her team now share, Julie mentions her top three benefits of using Titan GPS as:
- Trucks are always showing and never lose connectivity
- Customer support always answers same day, often within the hour
- The live map with oil field mapping (PatchMaps)
Currently, C&N Oilfield is focused on our global positioning system tracking, electronic logging devices, and PatchMaps. This oilfield mapping software is integrated directly within the FieldDocs app to assist users with visualizing live data of nearby oilfields with information like lease location, LSD, and more. In past years, the company has thought about using digital forms and now that Titan GPS can provide that service, they’re looking into adding it to their plan in the future.
“It’s an excellent product, but we haven’t even tapped into half of what Titan GPS offers, and there are so many more amazing options on there that we might have to look into in the future.” – Julie Wasilinchuk
Staying On Top of the Oil Patch
For Canadian companies in the energy safety sector with the right connections, procedures, and equipment, the oil field service industry can be a lucrative and long-lasting business. After finding the best hardware and software to fit your needs, keeping up with essential vehicles and equipment becomes second nature. Apart from the features that C&N Oilfield is currently using, Titan GPS has a wealth of applications to make life easier for people in the oil & gas industry. For more information on oilfield services and safety, Julie recommends consulting Energy Safety Canada in Alberta (previously Enform) for details regarding training, certification, regulations, and violations.
