Doughnut Peddler uses MV+AI and Lytx solutions to manage growth and reduce risk

Leveraging MV+AI to manage business growth

Sensing a growing appetite for freshly baked treats available through convenience stores, Doughnut Peddler CEO Jason Duffy in 2016 embarked on an ambitious plan to expand beyond the company’s home base in Chandler, Arizona. With those plans came the need to grow the company’s fleet of 10-foot and 26- foot box trucks, and its roster of drivers.

As the company added drivers and established new delivery routes that extend from Florida to California, it also saw an uptick in risk. “When you start up new markets, you hire new people who might not be as familiar with the roads,” Cooper said. “We needed a solution that could identify risk and quickly help us train drivers – before we lost assets.”

Running a competitive trial to surface the best solution

With insurance premiums surging across the industry, the Doughnut Peddler looked to intelligent video technology to help develop a proactive approach to risk management. To determine which solution to adopt, the company began a competitive trial between Lytx^® and another vendor.

The deciding factors in choosing Lytx were two-fold: technology and customer service. “Lytx stood out head and shoulders above” the competing vendor, said Mike Cooper, the company’s project manager. “Lytx was always there and responded instantly. “They had a team come out to install and train us to get our entire fleet equipped in about two weeks.”

- Mike Cooper, Project Manager

The company also found that Lytx’s machine vision and artificial intelligence (MV+AI) accurately identified, categorized, and recorded risky driving, such as not wearing a seat belt, cell phone use, and smoking, which can affect the taste of baked goods. The other vendor’s system did not flag as many risks, Mike Cooper said, “which worried us. We weren’t confident we could trust it out in the field. With Lytx, the cameras were just better. It was a world of difference.”

Rapidly identifying and reducing risk

Knowing what is happening on the road is the first step in improving driver safety. “If a driver was going 45 in a 35 zone, we’d never know if that was speeding. Now we do, because Lytx uses AI to ascertain the speed limit for that zone,” Mike Cooper said. “And for the first time we’re able to see what actually happens on the road.”

The ability to see driver behavior in greater detail has helped the company improve driver safety through coaching, but it has also given drivers the proof they need when something does go wrong.

“We manufacture all day and deliver all night,” Mike Cooper said. “Seeing what our drivers had to deal with in the middle of the night gave me an appreciation for what they do. Sleepy drivers, people under the influence, and lots of deer. Our drivers have a big job, and it’s a tough job. We want to do everything we can to get them home safe every night.”

The Lytx solution has helped Doughnut Peddler lower its insurance costs as well. “The insurance company gave us a discount when we bought Lytx,” said William Cooper. “They sent a team onsite to look at our vehicles and ask us for demos. We showed them what the DriveCam does. They were impressed.”

"The ability to navigate Lytx's online platform and access video 24/7 was night and day compared to the competitor...The fact that we could easily integrate it with our current software applications and devices made this a grand slam.”
- William Cooper, National Director, Project Management & Compliance

Building efficiencies with all-in-one, integrated solutions

As the Doughnut Peddler expanded to service 13 states, up from just one state five years ago, operational efficiency has become paramount. To ensure seamless integration of its technologies, the company used Lytx’s open API system architecture to connect the Driver Safety Program and Fleet Tracking Service with the company’s proprietary driver application used for assigning and tracking deliveries, identifying driver-to-vehicle assignments, and more. With Lytx’s Fleet Tracking layered on top, Doughnut Peddler’s dispatch team can now see how long drivers are in and out of delivery locations and access real-time video, which helps optimize efficiencies and ensure on-time deliveries, and allows the team to verify driver reports at any hour. Fleet managers can also use the live-tracking feature to combat theft and leverage video footage as evidence.

The company also uses Geotab’s Electronic Logging Device and is utilizing Lytx’s Geotab integration to streamline all of its fleet management platforms into one centralized location, leveraging the power of Lytx’s all-in-one solution offering.

“The ability to navigate Lytx’s online platform and access 24/7 video was night and day compared to the competitor,” William Cooper said. “Lytx has its solutions and integrations so dialed-in that anyone can easily use its system. The fact that we could easily integrate it with our current software applications and devices made this a grand slam.”