Empty miles—trucks driving with no freight at all—climbed to an average of 16.7% in 2024.* For a fleet manager, that's not just wasted mileage, it's money slipping away through a problem most people never think to measure.

In this episode of Operator Grade, we hear from Brian Bagin, Supply Chain Manager, North America at Brenntag, the world's largest chemical distribution company and one of Samsara's 2026 Top 100 Operators to Watch. Brian breaks down the method behind that recognition: tracing a basic request back to its root cause before building a solution, using his fleet utilization project as the real-world example. You'll hear how one simple question, "how much are we actually using our trucks?", turned into a system that reshaped how Brenntag buys, sells, and deploys its fleet.

Guest: Brian Bagin, Supply Chain Manager, North America at Brenntag (brenntag.com)

Host: Heather Ash, Sr. Content Marketing Manager at Samsara

Operator Grade is an original podcast by Samsara (samsara.com).

*source: American Transportation Research Institute

Every day, professional drivers navigate complex environments with limited visibility. Even the most experienced drivers can’t see every pedestrian and cyclist at once. In fact, 14% of severe large-truck crashes happen due to inadequate surveillance.* In this episode of Operate Smarter, host Hannah Maslar talks with Jason Louis, VP of Safety at Coach USA, one of the largest passenger transit providers in the U.S.

Jason shares how Coach USA is protecting the most at-risk population their drivers interact with—pedestrians. You’ll hear how Samsara’s AI Multicam and Pedestrian Collision Warning alerts give their drivers 360-degree visibility around their large buses, and the incredible results Coach USA has experienced.

Guest:

Name: Jason Louis, Vice President of Safety, Coach USA (coachusa.com)

Host:

Name: Hannah Maslar, Senior Manager, Customer Marketing & Community at Samsara

Operate Smarter is an original podcast presented by Samsara. samsara.com

*source: FMCSA

Drowsiness is one of the leading causes of accidents—and those accidents are often severe.

Drivers who sleep less than four hours are 11.5x more likely to crash than those who get a full night’s sleep, and 17% of all fatal crashes involve a drowsy driver.* In this episode of Operate Smarter, host Cole Jurden talks with Tom Karnowski, VP of EHS at USIC, the largest provider of public utility locating services in the U.S.

Tom shares how USIC is keeping their drivers from becoming a statistic. You’ll hear what it’s like to be a Samsara beta tester and a truly mind-blowing story about how a single alert not only prevented an accident but also uncovered hidden medical conditions, potentially saving lives.

Guest:

Tom Karnowski: Vice President of Environment, Health & Safety at USIC (usicllc.com)

Host:

Cole Jurden: Senior Safety Product Manager II at Samsara

Operate Smarter is an original podcast presented by Samsara. Subscribe for more episodes: @SamsaraHQ

*source: aaafoundation.org