The frequency of a fleet vehicle traveling toll roads depends on the location of the business or how far the fleet vehicle needs to travel to get to a job or perform the job. Some businesses have very little interaction with tolls and toll roads—other businesses, however, use them daily. Large fleets that use toll roads on a regular basis know the headache of keeping toll passes paid and in order as well as registering vehicles to use the toll roads. Thankfully, there are toll management providers that can help. Jason Walker shares about Bestpass, a toll management provider, and how fleets can benefit.
MWS: WHAT IS BESTPASS, AND HOW DID IT GET ITS START?
WALKER: Bestpass is a comprehensive payment platform provider and leader in toll management solutions for commercial fleets of all shapes and sizes. The company ensures data accuracy, consolidates payments, and saves customers time and money. Headquartered in Albany, New York, Bestpass was founded in 2001 by truckers for truckers to create an easier solution for companies to manage tolls. Bestpass was started as member benefit of the Trucking Association of New York (TANY) to offer its members toll management services for truckers operating in New York. Since then, it has become an independent company and expanded its partnerships with tolling agencies across the US. Bestpass covers 100% off all major toll roads across the country.
MWS: WHAT TYPES OF FLEETS CAN BENEFIT FROM TOLL MANAGEMENT SERVICES?
WALKER: Whether operating commercial vans or Class 8 work trucks, fleets of all sizes can benefit from using toll management services in areas where there are tolls. If vehicles use toll roads several times a month, fleets can save time dealing with back-office management and reduce the costs associated with tolls through subscribing to a toll management provider such as Bestpass.
For service trucks, final-mile fleets, or other local or regional transportation providers where vehicles are expected to make multiple stops a day, every minute counts. Situations that create extra drive time for drivers are magnified. Surprisingly, there are still many companies that direct drivers to avoid tolls to save money. Depending on how many tolls drivers pass each day, the opportunity costs, such as fewer deliveries and longer drive time, and fixed costs, such as fuel, can easily negate any toll fee savings.
When working with a toll management provider, much of the “busy work” dealing with toll-related tasks is avoided (we’ll get more into this later). Plus, since toll management providers such as Bestpass are the tolling authority’s largest customer, Bestpass receives discounted toll rates, which are passed down to its customers. These rates are better than what fleets can get through registering vehicles directly with some tolling authority.
Whether it’s a large corporation with multiple locations and vehicles operating across the United States or a regional service provider, fleets can select a nationwide toll pass that covers all major tolls in the US or one of several regional passes Bestpass offers that best covers the tolls in the state(s) the fleet operates..
MWS: WHY SHOULD A FLEET CONSIDER USING TOLL MANAGEMENT SERVICES VERSUS MANAGING TOLLS THEMSELVES?
WALKER: It takes time to review toll bill statements for each vehicle registered with a tolling authority. Those problems compound when toll roads used are managed by different authorities, which means separate bills from each. For instance, Texas has six different tolling authorities. If drivers travel throughout Texas, fleets will need to register each vehicle using those toll roads separately with the tolling authorities. Vehicles that aren’t registered and use toll roads receive a “violation” or a toll-by-mail letter with information about the vehicle that used the toll and an invoice, which costs significantly more than what a registered vehicle would pay. By using a toll management provider, there’s no need to register vehicles with each tolling authority.
There is no such thing as a “toll manager” in a fleet, and that job typically falls on the shoulders of a fleet or safety manager. Managing that on your own is a lot of busy work, and it takes time away from completing tasks that are more important to the business.
In fact, a large Bestpass customer significantly reduced the number of employees responsible for managing tolls after it began using toll management services. Before subscribing to toll management services, the company had 20 employees managing tolls. Now there is only one.
When you work with a toll management provider, all vehicles included in a toll management plan are bundled into one account with toll bills from each vehicle funneled into one monthly bill. You can still access information on each vehicle included in the plan to see exactly when trucks went through a toll and the fees associated with them, providing visibility into the fleet’s toll usage to better forecast budgets. It also makes it easy for fleets to bill back customers for their toll usage.
MWS: A BENEFIT OF USING TOLL MANAGEMENT SERVICES IS HELP WITH TOLL VIOLATIONS. HOW BIG OF A PROBLEM IS DEALING WITH TOLL VIOLATIONS AND HOW CAN BESTPASS HELP?
WALKER: One of the biggest benefits of using toll management services is the reduction in toll overcharges vehicles can receive due to toll “misreads.” Occasionally, when a vehicle passes through a toll road, the cameras the tolling authority use are unable to capture the vehicle’s transponder when it exits the toll road, resulting in a misread. Even if you’re using a toll management service or are registered with a tolling authority directly, misreads still happen. This can lead to a vehicle being charged more than it should have for its toll usage. A toll management provider has your vehicle plates on file and identifies when misreads are happening for you.
Working with a toll management provider can also help fleets reduce violations or toll-by-mail fees they receive from unregistered vehicles passing through tolls since it’s easier to manage all company vehicles using toll roads under one account. When vehicles do receive a violation because a company didn’t register a vehicle with a tolling authority through its toll management provider, it’s easy to allocate the violation to the specific vehicle and have it registered to prevent future violations.
MWS: WHAT RESULTS SHOULD A COMPANY EXPECT TO ACHIEVE BY IMPLEMENTING TOLL MANAGEMENT SERVICES INTO THEIR OPERATIONS?
WALKER: As mentioned earlier, since Bestpass works directly with tolling authorities and receives discounted toll rates that are passed down to our customers, vehicles using Bestpass are guaranteed the best possible rate each time they use a toll. Those savings can add up quickly depending on how many vehicles are in the fleet. Fleets that work with Bestpass typically see a 90% or more reduction in violations. This can save fleets hours in the back-office managing paper bills (violations) and reduce violation fees and opportunity costs associated with paying staff to rectify violations instead of working on other important tasks. With Bestpass, managers also can incorporate toll spending into your vehicle expenses, giving you a full view of costs by vehicle. Fleets that use Bestpass also can manage their devices and reduce fraud by setting the hours the toll pass should be in use and flagging when it’s outside those times. Fleets can also see if the routes they took match up with the toll costs. Many fleets are using this data to look at route optimization or give feedback to drivers to help them become more efficient. The ROI companies can expect varies depending on fleet sizes and frequency of toll usage.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Jason Walker is chief revenue officer of Bestpass, the leader in toll payment and management solutions for commercial fleets and owner operators. In this role, Walker oversees the sales and marketing teams and supports revenue management functions. Walker joined Bestpass in 2022 with more than 10 years of experience in the trucking industry and 25 years of experience driving results across multiple industries and SaaS companies. Find out more about Bestpass and how toll management services work, visit www.bestpass.com.
