Tow Professional Podcast
Tow Professional Podcast
Azuga, Enhancing Driver Safety and Efficiency in Towing
Ever wondered how technology could revolutionize your towing business and boost your bottom line? Join us in an extraordinary episode of the Tow Professional On the Go Podcast as we sit down with Tim Smith and highlight the inspiring journey of Jessica and Ryan Ward. With insights on leveraging Azuga and TowBook, you'll learn how these tools can transform driver behavior and elevate customer service to new heights. Hear firsthand how the Wards have turned their towing operations into a success story through innovative technology and positive reinforcement.
We don’t stop there—this episode also tackles the pressing issue of distracted driving. Discover groundbreaking technological solutions designed to enhance safety, including controlling driver phone usage and integrating essential apps like HaasAlert. Listen to an eye-opening anecdote about a company that took drastic measures to combat distracted driving, and get a sneak peek into our new ELD product for superior fleet management. Plus, stay tuned for exciting upgrades to our camera systems that promise to keep the industry moving forward.
Looking ahead, we delve into the future of towing operations and the role of telematics in improving driver safety and reducing costs. Tim Smith shares a compelling case study from Philadelphia Insurance, revealing how telematics and cameras can dramatically reduce risky driving behaviors and insurance claims. Learn about the impact of driver rewards programs and how they can lead to significant improvements in your fleet’s performance. This episode is packed with valuable lessons and cutting-edge advancements guaranteed to revolutionize your towing business. Don't miss out!
Welcome one and all to the Toe Professional On the Go Podcast. I want all of you to remember this is your podcast. It's for the pros that have a need to know, that are on the go, the true voice of the toering recovery industry. I'm DJ Harrington, your co-host, better known as the Tow Doctor, and the real host of the program is the president, publisher of Tow Professional Magazine, a good friend of the industry, a dear friend of mine and a guy that knows what's going on in the industry, darren Weaver. Darren, how you doing buddy.
Speaker 2:I am fantastic, dj. It's a great day here in Alabama. It's a, like I always say, a balmy, breezy, 94 degrees, humidity's about right there with a kitchen oven on 350. It's a great day and let me tell you this is going to be a good one. We had a special issue on the women of towing that came out Volume 13, issue 4, and we had one of our readers that sent in a story. It was Alan Meany and he sent in a story on a real American success story on the family of Jessica Ward and Ryan Ward, and it's phenomenal. So it's going to be great to be able to talk about this. But the special treat is she said that the success of her business was two prominent companies, one ToeBook, the other one being Azuga, which ToeBook being a great sponsor of the podcast and Azuga being a great partner as well, working along with us and being one of the places to go to for solutions in this industry. So it's going to be great, dj.
Speaker 1:Yeah and we've got a great guest who's been on before, that's for sure. Yep, Tim Smith has been, and you know, the last time I heard Tim Smith I saw him down at the Florida Toe Show. Tim, do you remember that?
Speaker 3:How can I forget DJ? You're an unforgettable face.
Speaker 1:Hey, darren. Then I tried to get him to buy me my lunch and it took so tried to get him to buy me my lunch and it took so long to get it ordered. I stayed up and went back to the booth it wasn't even the alligator arms this time, darren.
Speaker 3:It was just that the people up there were just slow getting those food out. I think they were cooking by candlelight back there you don't have to tell our listeners how cheap they are.
Speaker 1:We sat there at the Florida Toe Show listeners and the Toe Show was great. I saw Tim earlier today. Then we went up and I saw him and I thought, okay, I'll order. And I waited and waited, and waited I figured forget it. I went back down to the booth. Okay. So, tim smith, I'm glad you're back on this again. Let me ask the first question. I I know that we just, darren, just talked about the women of the industry. So in the issue of women of industry I guess it was Jessica Ward that mentioned their successes using the combination of Azuga and Toe Book. So, first of all, did you get a chance?
Speaker 1:to read that article.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah, no, I read that. I saw the picture of Jess, who is a good friend, on the front cover and had to peek in there. So you know what, dj? Those guys are a perfect example of how to run the business, how to use technology in order to benefit your business, and you know they were successful before us, but they've been able to take the product that we have working with Towbook and dude. They've got it down to a science.
Speaker 3:I mean, these guys, you watch what they've got and they're looking at the report card. They're looking at the driver report card. They have used that feature inside our system so well that it allows them to really change the driver's behavior. Because what they're doing you know Ryan, jessica's husband he uses the back end. He'll use that report card to quickly glance and see how a guy's driving. Hey, he's an 80, which is a B, right, so he's doing. Okay, hey, this guy's a D. Well, he rewards them. There's a driver reward function inside that thing where he can automatically incentivize people that score over a certain grade during the course of their week. So he's using the carrot rather than the stick to kind of change the driver's behavior and help them go through it and it's been awesome.
Speaker 3:And the level of information that they use to do that helps them to understand who the right drivers are, which driver is going to get there the fastest, which one's got the best time getting on scene, which one's got the best time of getting clear time getting on scene, which one's got the best time of getting clear. So they're dispatching the right driver to the right job more often in the most efficient way that they possibly can and using the operational software which is ToeBook in order to kind of bring all that stuff together, to deliver those messages and to use their control center that they have. I saw that you guys mentioned in there to use that control center that they have. I saw that you guys mentioned in there to use that control center to get that information out and to be, you know, really the first voice that people call when they call in to have like a customer service group. Listen, they want to give a gold standard type performance and the way that they use the software is perfect. It helps them deliver on that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's a great report card and the article is a great article and it makes sense. And if you want to know more about your driver's abilities and things that they do Exuga does that You're right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let me follow up on that last one that Tim just answered. I love the expression he said using the carrot instead of the stick. A lot of folks might not know this. Me and Tim grew up together, graduated high school together, turned around.
Speaker 2:I went into publishing and learned under Tim and let me tell you that place they used the stick instead of the carrot and it didn't help incentivize the employees. It made people begrudged and not wanting to be there long term. So there was a tremendous amount of turnover. And with what you're talking about, tim, that's the key man Using the carrot, it lets the employee know you're watching them, that not only you're watching them but you actually see them as a person and what they're doing for your company, and that's big All right. So let me ask this after I ran on here. Obviously, one of the biggest things we get asked about is insurance. Everybody's stressing over that and it's one of the bigger expenses that our tow professionals must deal with on a regular basis. So we all hate to pay it, boy, believe me, I do. Are the insurance companies affecting your business?
Speaker 3:Yeah, fortunately for us, they're affecting it for the positive, for towers not so much, right? So for towers, it's the biggest expense they have on a regular basis, right, it's just like you and I I mean, trust me, I've got four kids when you write that auto check insurance, it feels like you're pissing out the window, right? So every time you do it's frustrating. Well, let's multiply that times 40, right, or whatever the case may be. I mean, it's just brutal. And they're the problem about tours. If they've got so much liability out there, right? So they've got. They got them on the roadside. They've got you know employees getting injured. They've got. You know, um, you know how they interact with the customers. They've got how they drive. They've got all these different areas, uh, where they are just a lot, where they are out there, and they've got to protect themselves.
Speaker 3:And if you ever want to know what an insurance company is thinking, just know their whole function in life is to reduce or to prevent claims. Because an insurance company that's just sitting there taking checks, that doesn't ever have to pay out, doesn't ever have to do anything, is a happy insurance company, and that's what they want. So everything they want, that's it. So if you can figure out. If you want to figure out how to lower your insurance costs, it's about reducing claims. If you want to figure out how to get better insurance, it's about preventing claims, it's about reducing claims. And so for us, you know, insurance is our number one category. We get more business sent to us from insurance companies than any other market, any other area that we have, and we're a very, very big company when it comes to this market and what we're doing. So it is a huge part of what we do. So, yeah, it's massive, it's getting bigger, you know, every day.
Speaker 3:The crazy part is, darren, we did a I guess it was God. It was four years ago now. We had a large insurance company, philadelphia Insurance, that came to us and they wanted to just kind of test out some of this data that was out there. The information that they got out of that was just unbelievable. But it's helped us kind of grow into that market and go.
Speaker 3:And with insurance, if you can help them through different ways of distracted driving, if you can help them with you know, ability to fight fraudulent claims or be able to settle claims fast that you might be at fault for, these are the areas that they're looking for. So we've got a lot of different products and things that we're working on. But yeah, the insurance side of things has been big and really for companies that are out there. If you haven't looked at telematics, or if it's not working to help you with your insurance, or if your insurance company is not working with you or giving you discounts or showing you how you can use your telematics in order to reduce your premiums, give us a call. We'd be happy to help you. There's a ton of them out there that are and I would say probably 70% of the folks selling insurance into the towing industry are recommending referring business to Azuga because of the way that we work with them.
Speaker 2:And that's fantastic and I know, tim, we even talked about this the other day is that there's companies out there that they go out, they load a 79 El Camino for somebody that's got a rusted quarter panel on it and they get it there and next thing you know it's got a supposed damaged fender and bumper and needs a whole new repaint, and things like this. It happens daily. But your products I've seen and heard in the industry is the biggest thing, right from the horse's mouth that they fix that problem, help fix the problem. So, man, it's fantastic. Hey, listeners, hang in there. We're going to take a quick commercial and we'll be right back with Tim Smith of Azuga, so hang on.
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Of course you know you're listening to Toe Professional On the Go podcast Every week. Darren and I do our best to bring you updated information and this episode is no different, with Tim Smith from Azuga. Remember, we're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or wherever you get your podcasts. Please download and listen and refer us as much as you can why we got Jim on the phone, darren, I want to ask him what's new with Azuga and do you have anything new coming out in the future?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know it's funny, If you wait around about three minutes, the industry will pass you by. So in this market, you just got to stay ahead of it. So, no, we've got a couple cool things, some new product and obviously we've actually got some new integration, which is one of the things, matter of fact, we were talking about a second ago with Distracted Driving, one of our newest integration partners. And don't get me wrong, two of our most important integration partners are Tobook, which is our primary integration partner, and we love Tobook and just love their business and their customers. But we also do a lot with HaasAlert, of course, as being a HaasAlert-enabled event. But, as we were talking earlier about the distracted driving, it is so hard. I mean, we've got cameras inside the trucks that'll tell you. It'll take a picture of them if they're trying to use their phone. Right, I don't care if they hold it underneath the dashboard, it'll take a picture of them looking down at it underneath the dashboard. I mean it's really good, it'll beep at them, it'll buzz them, it'll take a picture of them, it'll tell you how fast you're going, and that's great.
Speaker 3:But the problem is, is that in the towing industry we actually create some of that distracted driving, because tow book and other things that are out there that we use are app based. The drivers need to have it in order to receive calls, in order to go on calls, for directions, for all kinds of stuff that's out there that they need to do with that app while they're going. I mean, that's their operational software. So we started working with another group. We brought in an integration which allows us, through our hardware, that if you want, as the owner, you can disable somebody's phone while they're in the car and the car is driving. You can disable it where you know you can pick and the car is driving, you can disable it to where you know you can. You can pick and choose. You can turn it off altogether. You can turn off all the all the ringers and all the buzzers, bells and everything, the vibrations. Uh, you can actually make it to where they can only receive incoming calls. They can't call out, they can't do text, they can't get online and, if you want, you can shut down all the apps except for the app that they need to use for driving. So really, really cool and as long as the vehicle is in use, as long as the ignition is on and it's driving. They don't have access. The second they turn off the ignition and hop out of the car, their phone snaps right back to its regular mode and works just like it's supposed to Right. So very, very cool. It's not for everybody and it's not the kind of fix that you want to have, but if you're having a problem with distracted driving, it's a really cool additional feature that you can do for that. So that's available now. Just finished the integration here about a month ago, so that is available now. It's a little bit of an additional fee, but you don't have to do anything else or add any more hardware. Our hardware is already enabled inside of it to do the work. So very cool piece there.
Speaker 3:We just finished our new ELD product, so our ELD certification and product is completely done. The ELD is done for iOS and for Android. It's fantastic, works really good. If you've already got our system system, instead of having to pay another company a separate service in order to do it, you can just add it on to your current system and it's very affordable. Very, very, very awesome product, easy to use for the drivers and kind of simplifies everything for them.
Speaker 3:But of that we've also broken out part of the ELD piece that allows us to. If the company for some reason let's say they've got 20 trucks, only three or four that need ELD but they would like to have the pre and post-trip inspection that's required for ELD for all their vehicles so they can make sure that the drivers are doing their pre and post trip work they can actually break that out from the from the ELD system for the rest of those vehicles. So a lot of flexibility. We've really designed it around the fact that around our towing brothers and sisters. So a very, very cool product. And we've got new cameras coming out at the beginning of next quarter. Just some additional type options that are out there for camera systems. Depending on what you need. A lot of different new things coming out.
Speaker 1:Boy. Tim, I got to tell you something. A couple of years ago I wrote an article in Toll Professional Magazine about distracted driving and I had did a company up in Massachusetts and the owner came to me but I drank coffee and he said I brought a coffee for you, dj. I said I'm not a coffee person, I'm really diet Coke. So his wife said oh, no problem, we got plenty of diet Coke. I'm sitting drinking the coffee and a Diet Coke.
Speaker 1:He says to me he put little signs inside the cab of the truck that said on the consumer, on the passenger side of the vehicle if you see my driver on his cell phone, call my cell phone number. Here's my number. And I said how did this happen? He said I had a driver on his phone and he went up over a hill walking to his girlfriend on the cell phone and hit a guy on a motorcycle and killed the guy on the bike. And he said his insurance went through the roof and distracted driving is such a disgrace. And he said when I talked to the young guy, he said my girlfriend called me, we were going out that night and he said well, that sure enough didn't help the poor guy on the bike out that night and he said, well, that sure enough didn't help the poor guy on the bike. And with the Zuga, with this, this really prevents it altogether and you may only need it for a certain driver, some driver that really misuses the program.
Speaker 3:And that's the. That's the benefit of it is you can pick and choose. So if you say, hey, you know for the first six months that you're driving with us, you know we want, we want this installed on your phone. Or if you've had a problem in the past where you're having a lot of these events that are showing up inside the system, hey, we're going to, we're going to install this. But if you're the insurance company and you've got a driver that that they don't want to cover because he's had events that they don't want to cover because he's had events, what if you can tell that insurance company, hey, I can shut his phone off while he's in the vehicle, while it's running. So his phone, doesn't work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd be interested in carrying the case. You're right.
Speaker 3:Right. So it just kind of helps. It gives you a story to tell the insurance company to help reduce the premium, to help you cover a guy that might be questionable, to maybe keep a driver on board, cause, as you know, and hiring drivers is hard, that there's not a bunch of them out there and if you find a good one boy, you need to do everything you can do to hold onto them. So doing stuff like this to where you can help them, help them, you know, prevent those things is important and you know you said something a second ago, dj, and it's listen, this is. It's so crazy. And we, because we deal with so much many insurance companies, we get to hear kind of the horror stories.
Speaker 3:But the newest craze from these defense attorneys that are out there, these ambulance chasers that are out there. When a person calls them related to an accident and there is a commercial vehicle involved, they tell them immediately. The very first thing they say is, if anybody asks you about the accident, you tell them you saw that driver on their cell phone. Exactly, it's the first thing that they tell them the reason, the reason being, is because it's impossible to prove almost, or to disprove, and if that guy's on his phone. It basically makes a settlement a hundred percent. Do, right, they're gonna insurance companies gonna turn around. Well, he says he wasn't. Well, my guy says he was. And you know what the what the judge is going to say. I mean, so it's so important.
Speaker 3:So our system right now and that's one of the important things I talk to people all the time about that interior camera that's facing the driver yeah, with our system you can absolutely shut it off internally if you want to. But, man, you want to have that video. If nothing else, have it running in the background. So if something comes up and you have an accident that that, um, that attorney you know brings that up and tries to pull it, you can turn on, say here's my guy, here's the whole time that that the accident happened, not on his phone, right?
Speaker 3:The burden of proof unfortunately falls, falls on the, the owner and the business owner because, uh, they don't care. And your insurance companies. Unfortunately, they have very little choice. It's just cheaper to settle for, you know, 60, 70 thousand dollars than to go to court and pay a half a million, and so they just do it and unfortunately it drives the rates up. So being able to protect yourself is important and yeah, just like what you're saying with that guy if you can shut it off, anything we can do to prevent things like that from happening, to prevent businesses from having to deal with that, I think we have a responsibility to try to do.
Speaker 1:I agree 100%, Tim. All right, Darren.
Speaker 2:I want to piggyback on that. One thing I wanted to bring back from the earlier questions is Azuga's ability. I mean, when we were talking about Jessica Ward and her husband Jay, they're a what are they, tim, about? An 82 truck fleet or?
Speaker 3:bigger. Yes, it's Ryan Ward. Yes, Jessica and Ryan Ward. Yeah, I'm sorry, no you're fine. Yeah, they've got like 80 units. And, dude, when I say they started out as a one-truck guy, I mean Ryan was a one-truck guy and it wasn't. I think it was like seven or eight years ago, I can't remember the number.
Speaker 2:Yeah, six years ago, and they're 80, I think it says in the article, 82 trucks now. So that was my point. Is you know whether you're a one-truck company or you're an 82-truck company? Azuka's got the room to help you grow with every product. Am I right there?
Speaker 3:Well, it's about being efficient because, as you know and me and you have been around this market for a minute now there's a lot of guys that measure themselves based on the number of trucks that they have, and sometimes their best solution to make more money is to buy another truck, and sometimes being more efficient with the trucks that you have can help you make more money and put more money in your pocket. So if you want to run a better business instead of another truck, why don't we make sure that we're getting the most out of the trucks that we have? So that way, if you do add one, you know it's for new business right, A way to generate more revenue.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and something you said earlier, tim, when you were talking about somebody that's hard to employ because they've got a little bit of driving history from the past. So the insurance company is questioned a little bit. Not only I know a lot of our listeners might say, well, that's really pinpointing the driver, but it also gives that owner the ability to watch the difference and the reaction of the employee, how they do, and gives them the opportunity to incentivize that driver, reward them and show them hey, I see you and you got a place here. We're watching you. So I think it sounds like a key tool to me. Let me ask this next one, and you can expand on what I just said if you want, but I know you've been around the market a long while when it comes to this technology, so what are your overall thoughts on the impact that it's having on the towing market going forward?
Speaker 3:You know it's crazy. When we first came in and when I first came into the market, you know, the most popular way to operate a towing business, it seemed like, was to have a receipt book shoved underneath your seat and taking cash and turning around and writing the receipt on the thing, and the only way you knew how many calls you went on was to look back at the receipt book and see how many you had for this date right, and those were always right.
Speaker 2:Those were always right. Drivers always keep up with those.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, and so from that to today is unbelievable, right, but we had a long way to come. We were a ways behind, you know, in the beginning, but it's come a long way. You know, Tobolkin, that's really what our vision is, for. This is really the future, and what we know that needs to happen is for people to be able to that are Toebook customers, that are Azuga customers, that we want them to be able to operate their entire business out of one pane of glass, right? Instead of having, hey, I've got to have my ELD screen up, and hey, I've got to have my ToeBook screen up. And hey, I've got to have my Azuga screen up. And hey, I've got to have my additional camera screen up, and hey, I've got to have this screen up.
Speaker 4:I mean can?
Speaker 3:you imagine having five monitors around you? You'd look like a designer from one of our old magazines that slept in a dark room and drank coffee for 23 hours a day? Yes, for 23 hours a day. Yes, so you know you can't do that and it's hard to operate a business that way. So, these guys, you know our future, or the vision for the future, is for the dispatchers, the managers, the GMs, the lead drivers. The guys like that should never have a reason to ever close out tow book, right, tow book should have everything they should be able to dispatch, to be able to see accurately where vehicles are, to be able to do everything they need to do directly inside that one pane of glass, right. And then that makes Azuga really a back-end software for the ownership, for the executives inside the company, to run reports, to do the things that they need to do, and it just it makes more sense, right, you have, you have the product design for the, for the right people, and just simplify things. So that's, that's really the, the, the future of it.
Speaker 3:You know there's going to be, you know, other new I mean. There'll be a newer, greater, better camera, matter of fact, there's going to be. You know other new. I mean there'll be a newer, greater, better camera. Matter of fact, we're going to be launching one here in a, in a little bit, but there's going to be new technology for cameras. There's going to be, you know, new technology and new things that you can bring in and out of the ecm, and you know there's there's developments that are coming down the path, but the most important thing, especially for towing, is how you can utilize it to make your business more profitable, more safe, more effective and able to just make it easy to use, because right now, if you're using something else, it's a mess. Right? You've got a lot going on and your eyes have got to be in a lot of places at once.
Speaker 2:So you just absolutely simplifying this and streamlining it. So it's just one package, A to Z does it all and that's, and with trusted names. That's phenomenal. Toe book five star. And and I know that Jessica is a friend of Dan's and the family and it's, you know, when you see that Tim, when you see Kendall, when you see Dan, all of their customers are friends, Because I've seen where ToeBook has helped build these companies up and give them a cost-effective process to be able to do so. And Azuga came right in with the same philosophy. It's why you'll fit together so well. So I think it's phenomenal. Hey, listeners, we'll be right back. We're going to take another break. Dj. I told you he's a depth of knowledge when it comes to technology in the market. I told you it was going to be a good one. Listeners, keep listening, We'll be right back.
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Of course you know you are listening to Toll Professional on the Go podcast, the voice of the towing and recovery industry. If you have someone you'd like to hear on this podcast, we have a hotline right here at the podcast center. It's a simple number 706-409-5603. We appreciate everyone telling their friends and neighbors about this podcast. It's growing so much and I can't thank you enough. And Darren thank you. So please remember to like, review and share everywhere. Remember the like, review and share everywhere. And, darren, I guess what I want to ask, tim, with the work that's going on, that's been done by different insurance companies, do they tell you about the type of statistics they're looking for by using filmatics or cameras? Does the insurance company actually ask you, tim, on some of this stuff, or are you just coming up with new stuff just to help keep our bills down?
Speaker 3:Well, it's a little bit of both, but yeah, no, the you know, it's crazy. Like I guess it was four or five years ago and I started to mention this earlier, philadelphia Insurance, for example, did a. They wanted to be able to talk to their members and be able to see, really, whether this is something that's going to benefit them or not. And so what we did is we gave them a bunch of different units for just the telematics, just the tracking portion, right. And so they have their own fleet of vehicles, they have their own drivers that are out doing things. So they turned around having the same problems that everybody else does inside fleet with speeding and accidents and different things. So they went and popped this little plug in up into the OPD2 port for these different vehicles, didn't let anybody know that they were doing it and put it in there, and then they gauged the driving behavior for three months, right. So they just for three months, just let it run. They didn't look at it. They didn't look at it week to week, they didn't look at it day to day, they just let it go and they looked at the number of hard braking, hard acceleration, speeding, excessive speeding, the number of events that they were having. And so they saw all that and what they did was they turned around and brought all those drivers in and they basically did what Ryan and Jessica did they pull up that driver rewards program, they pull up the report card and they sit down with them and they show them and they said, hey, here's you, you're going 16 miles per hour with the speed limit for a minute and 23 seconds, while you're driving with your knee going, you know, going down the highway. Here you are, you know, going through a school zone right in the middle of this neighborhood, and you're going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. Here's you slamming on the brakes multiple times over the course of the thing. Here's you on Roosevelt Street slamming on the brakes because, whatever reason, you weren't paying attention and had to slam on the brakes, right. And they went through and just kind of showed them and went over the areas that were affecting their score and they told them hey, you know, we're looking at these scores because we're trying to evaluate drivers and who's driving, our equipment and treatment, right. So they basically did what we would tell a customer to do Turned around and ran it for another three months after that they saw a 98% reduction in hard braking, 97% reduction in hard and fast acceleration. They only saw like a 70% reduction in speeding. That's zero to 10, but anything that was over 10, 89% reduction in speeding. So just being able to show those kinds of statistics on a pilot that was non-advertised, non-requested, it was their pilot, they did it all by themselves, that's awesome, right, that is a really, really cool thing to be able to do. They did it with a couple other vehicles, they did it over an 18-month period and these are the averages that they had from that. Just amazing, amazing stuff.
Speaker 3:And the stats back then we had done them way back when and I think they were off then. But they said back then it was like 32% of all crashes were related to cell phones right inside commercial vehicles. I think it's probably closer to half now. Probably 50% of commercial accidents are caused by distracted driving, whether that be, you know, fiddling with the radio, looking out the window at a pretty girl, or on their cell phone. Right, it's something they're not paying attention to the road.
Speaker 3:And it's crazy that the average cost of a loss for these insurance companies related to commercial incidents that came from one provider $75,000. Wow. So, as an insurance company, you tell me how many $75,000 losses you're going to take before you dump somebody, right? I mean they're in the business of making money too, so I mean you're going to let people go. So I mean there's more and more of that out there. So I mean you're you're going to let people go. So I mean there, there's, there's more and more of that out there.
Speaker 3:So the, the camera that allows you to, to, to catch the distracted driving, to change the behavior of people being on the phone, the, the tools of the, the, the new integration that allows you for, if you've got people that you really need to monitor or a business that you're having an issue with it, that allows you to turn that phone off altogether, the ability to kind of just affect their overall driving behavior. That's how you drive down claims, and if you reduce the claims, you reduce your expense on insurance. And if you reduce your expense on insurance, you can get better insurance through better companies. So you want to companies, so you want to change your business, you want to affect your bottom line. How about changing your insurance and adding 15% out of your insurance right or 20% out of your insurance costs? So easy ways for you to add money back to the bottom line, just being safer, and on top of that you know your business will run more effectively and more efficiently.
Speaker 1:Wow, big difference.
Speaker 2:Man, I told you DJ. A lot of knowledge in a short time. It's something else. Well, real quickly, tim, let me ask you this If somebody wants to see you at a show, come by and talk to you. I know you guys go to a lot of shows in the industry. What upcoming shows are you guys going to be at this year?
Speaker 3:For the rest of the year. I'm going to try to make it out to the North Carolina Toe Show. I know we really love those guys out there with North Carolina. Go see Kerry and Fred and that show that they've got going on out there. We're going to be at the Baltimore Toe Show, for sure. We're looking into a couple other smaller events as well, but if you don't know what I look like, I'm the tall ugly one with the curly head that's really loud standing out in the middle of the aisle way.
Speaker 2:Look for Jeff Goldblum. He'll be in the booth ready to help you out. Well, also, tim, how can they get a hold of you if they want to go to the website, if they want to give your? I know you've got a tremendous trained staff of folks to help them. So what's a number they can get a hold of, a Zuga ad, and what's a good web address for everybody to take a look at your product?
Speaker 3:Absolutely so for me. You can reach out to me on my cell phone. It's 205-728-9135. I'd be happy to take your call and point you in the right direction. Of course you can go to ToeBook, and you can. Actually there's a link on ToeBook, if you're a ToeBook customer, where you can get a discount by going through the ToeBook link on there. So if you go there, you'll see that Azuga is listed as a preferred partner for GPS and there's a link in there that allows you to kind of fill out the information. It's like three or four questions allow you to be able to do that in an effective and efficient manner. You can, of course, email me, which is tims at azugacom, or you can go to wwwazugacom and when you call in, just tell them that you're interested in getting some more information on our telematics and cameras for towing.
Speaker 2:Fantastic, fantastic. Well, dj, any last comments before we wrap this thing up.
Speaker 1:I think Tim Smith listeners. He's really a good guy, even though my wife told me he's easy on the eyes. You don't need to hear that on a podcast. But can I just tell all of our listeners Tim is a real good guy, cares about the industry, he wants everyone to come home safe and sound and he wants to have you improve your bottom line. And with Azuga you can actually save on insurance. You can save on processes that you're doing. So it's worth checking Tim out in the Azuga products. So, darren, that was my two cents. He's a great guy. I've known him for years and he's a good guy.
Speaker 1:And I'm glad he came back on the podcast.
Speaker 2:Definitely, definitely. You know, I tell you, tim, we've always talked about this. When it comes to publishing, you know you can always say how wonderful your product is and how good it looks and pick it up and see it. But, man, when a customer calls in and says hey, so-and-so told me about you, there's no better thing, says hey, so-and-so, told me about you, there's no better thing. And that was awesome to see a story come in about two of our great customers, toebook and Azuga. So, man, you're living right to get those wrote about you and sent in on a monthly basis.
Speaker 3:Well, listen, I appreciate it, and they're great customers and great people as well, so very, very happy to have them as customers.
Speaker 2:Well, man, we were honored to have it and it's just. You know, the ability to stand behind the women of towing and show what they're doing. I know for myself I've said it many times behind every good man's a good woman and for mine, one that deserves a championship belt for putting up with that man. But this one's a good one. Her and her husband built a phenomenal company and they've done it with two quality companies out there Toe Book and Azuga. So that's awesome to see.
Speaker 2:Well, as always, listeners, we certainly appreciate you tuning in Over 14,000 of you worldwide. You've helped make Toe Professional on the go podcast number one in industry and we appreciate you for that. Make sure you pay attention to the latest issue that just hit the 2024 Buyer's Guide. You need the latest products. They're all listed A to Z, alphabetical categories and the category listing of where those products, of who's selling those products under the categories. So take a look at it for your upcoming purchases.
Speaker 2:And, as always, dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the ability to have this show to reach our audience. We thank you for our first responders out there. We ask that you keep your hand of protection on them, watch over them, bring them back home safe and also increase them in their wealth, knowledge and prosperity. And, father, do the same thing with our vendors. Watch over them, bring them more ideas and knowledge to again grow this wonderful industry. And, father, put your hand on our nation. Watch us watch over our president, our former presidents. Protect our nation and heal our nation. We ask Watch over our president, our former presidents, protect our nation and heal our nation. We ask this in your precious name, father. Amen and for everyone. Thanks for listening. We'll have more great guests on, like Tim Smith of Azuga and upcoming shows. Thanks again, tim. Another great show and listen again. We'll be back next week.