The Ruban Bleu Group accelerates the energy transition of its fleet with Samsara

“Ecodriving is a very important aspect for the Ruban Bleu Group, both in terms of safety for our drivers and service quality for our clients, as well as for our overall brand image and reputation. We're seeing a significant improvement in driving quality and a widespread adoption of best practices." Guillaume Bruneau, Director of the Ruban Bleu Group

How the exploitation of data allows the Ruban Bleu Group to optimise its operations and accelerate the energy transition of its fleet.

• Problem: Use data to optimise operations, improve ecodriving and support the energy transition of the fleet.

• Products: Telematics Boxes (196) Embedded Smart Cameras (41)

• Solution: Samsara allows the Ruban Bleu Group to digitise and connect its operations to improve its performance, strengthen ecodriving and accelerate the energy transition of its fleet.

A fast-growing family SME

Created over 70 years ago in Aveyron under the name Ruban Bleu Autocars, the Ruban Bleu Group is today a company that brings together over 600 employees and achieves a turnover of 35 million euros. Fully owned by its founders, the company accelerated its development in 2008 through an ambitious external growth strategy that resulted in the acquisition of 7 passenger transport companies in about fifteen years.

Present throughout the Occitanie region, the Ruban Bleu Group employs a fleet of more than 550 vehicles (mainly coaches and minibuses) around three main activities: tourist transport; the operation of regional and departmental transport lines; and the operation of school transport services.

Recognized for the quality of its services, the Ruban Bleu Group positions itself as an innovative SME involved in local economic development. The company is also committed to a strong eco-responsible approach and invests annually to reduce its environmental impact, particularly through ecodriving and the energy transition of its vehicle fleet.

"For the Ruban Bleu Group, technology and innovation are just as much about constantly improving the services we offer our customers as they are about our development as an eco-responsible company," emphasises Guillaume Bruneau, Director of Urban Transport for the Ruban Bleu Group. “At the heart of this global approach, the collection and exploitation of data is essential, and we were looking for a telematics solution that would allow us to achieve our various operational and environmental objectives."

Optimising operational management through data accuracy

In order to meet its multiple challenges, the Ruban Bleu Group evaluated the solutions of various suppliers and chose Samsara in 2021.

"Samsara's technology makes the difference in many ways, some of which are decisive for us," states Bruneau. "First of all, tachograph and fuel data offer a higher level of precision, enabling very detailed management of the vehicle fleet. Samsara's geolocation data is also more accurate and more reliable than the competition, which allows us to continuously improve our services."

The Samsara solution features highly accurate mapping of vehicle tracks, with positions recorded every 10 seconds. The ability of the solution to report data remotely is also a point highly appreciated by the fleet managers of the Ruban Bleu Group. For example, for vehicles parked at the driver's home or at a distant warehouse, it is no longer necessary to wait for them to return to the central warehouse to get the data from the tachographs and driver cards.

"Having such accurate and reliable data is not only essential to improve our operational performance — such as the calibration and improvement of lines — but also to respond effectively to certain tenders. For certain public contracts, where the Ruban Bleu Group regularly competes, 60% of the score is based on technical criteria. It's therefore essential to demonstrate that we have high-performance tools to report the kilometres travelled and the fuel consumption."

Encourage and improve ecodriving

The Ruban Bleu Group also uses Samsara solutions to raise awareness and involve its drivers in eco-responsible driving practices, and to protect them in the event of a dispute (over an accident, for example).

In addition to Samsara's solutions for geolocation and fuel consumption monitoring implemented throughout its fleet, the Ruban Bleu Group has equipped its regular lines with dashcams.

"Ecodriving is a very important aspect for the Ruban Bleu Group, both in terms of safety for our drivers and service quality for our clients, as well as for our overall brand image and reputation," highlights Guillaume Bruneau.

"In addition to the video images we can use to protect our drivers when necessary, the data collected by Samsara provides us with the tools we need to raise awareness of eco-responsibility and energy efficiency among all our teams. Every month, we display fuel consumption data, and drivers can see the progress they've made and where they can improve. We're seeing a significant improvement in driving quality and a widespread adoption of best practices. Some drivers really treat it like a game, challenging each other to be the best eco drivers!" says Bruneau with delight.

"Samsara solutions help us measure the efficiency of our fleet's energy transition, in particular by reporting accurate and real consumption data, regardless of the type of alternative fuel. That's something we couldn't do with our previous tools."

Supporting and measuring the fleet's energy transition

Access to data is not only essential for improving operational performance management and ecodriving. For Groupe Ruban Bleu, data is also essential to support the energy transition of its fleet.

"In recent years, Ruban Bleu has been implementing a proactive policy to reduce its CO2 emissions and actively investing in a fleet of clean vehicles. We're gradually moving towards alternative energies such as electricity, BioGNV and biofuels. In order to accelerate this transition, we have also installed two CNG stations on our Millau and Rodez sites," states Bruneau.

"Samsara solutions help us measure the effectiveness of this transition, in particular by reporting accurate and real consumption data, regardless of the type of alternative fuel. It's something we couldn't do with our previous tools."

Finally, and more generally, the Ruban Bleu Group welcomes the simplicity and ease of installation of Samsara solutions. "The deployment is happening very quickly and Samsara provides technical support that is particularly responsive and effective", concludes Bruneau.