4 Gen Logistics is a drayage provider based in Rialto, CA that is aiming to be the first all-electric drayage fleet in California. 4 Gen Logistics currently operates over 60 electric class 8 drayage vehicles in the LA area.
4 Gen Logistics has been using Flipturn as their charging management software provider for over a year. We interviewed Brad Bayne, VP of Strategic Initiatives, about his experience with Flipturn and how Flipturn helps his team get real-time visibility into state of charge and charging progress, as well as streamline LCFS reporting.
When Flipturn contacted 4 Gen Logistics, they were on the market for a charging software that would also give them visibility into the performance and status of their electric vehicles. According to Brad, “we identified pretty early on that we needed some sort of management system that would handle our whole fleet [of vehicles and chargers, including] the state of charge of a vehicle, what's going on at our charging sites, how many trucks are being charged, what's their state of charge, etc.”
Flipturn’s software offering is focused on fleet, so it provides the visibility that Brad was looking for, in addition to comprehensive charger management functionality. As a result, 4 Gen decided to switch off of a previous provider and onto Flipturn: “it turned out to be an easy choice for us to say, hey, this is going to make it much easier to manage our EV fleet as we roll it out over the next couple of years.”
According to Brad, “Before Flipturn, everything about transitioning to an EV fleet in California had been challenging. A pretty big topic of discussion was, how are we going to manage this? Initially, we thought we might have to log into separate charging software, software for the OEM, and our existing telematics.”
With Flipturn, Brad can access the cross-system visibility his team needs to monitor their EVs and chargers, all in one dashboard.
Flipturn is used daily by 4 Gen’s team of driver managers to get real-time visibility into their charging operations. Not only does 4 Gen’s team monitor the Flipturn dashboard throughout the day, they also heavily use Flipturn’s low state of charge alerts: “The driver managers, even myself and Dennis Aguilar, [General Manager at 4 Gen Logistics], are getting an alert at a certain percentage, and we then change our focus to that particular unit to make sure we won't get in trouble from a fuel standpoint or not be able to get back to the depot.”
In addition to driver managers using Flipturn to monitor the trucks, Brad shared how Flipturn helps 4 Gen improve the efficiency of their charging operations: “our gate team has the Flipturn app right up on their computer, and they're monitoring the charging of the trucks throughout the day. As one is fully charged, they're going over and moving it off the charger, taking a unit they've identified on the yard that's low charge, and moving it over to the chargers. [Flipturn is] serving multiple purposes and really helping us right now [to] stay ahead of the game, keep units charged, and make sure the drivers are doing what they need to do throughout their daily workload.”
Beyond the comprehensive, real-time visibility into their EV and charging operations, Brad highlighted a three features that help 4 Gen save money, save time, and improve the efficiency of their operations:
First, 4 Gen utilizes Flipturn’s charger power management features to use less energy during peak times, as shown below:
Second, the 4 Gen team uses Flipturn’s fleet reporting to spot anomalies across vehicles and identify opportunities for driver coaching. Because Flipturn has data on the vehicles, charging sessions, and utility rates, the platform is able to calculate the kWh per mile, cost per mile, regenerative braking usage, and daily range of each vehicle in 4 Gen’s fleet.
Finally, Brad uses Flipturn’s LCFS report to maximize credit revenue from his chargers. Read more about how Flipturn saves charging depot operators time on LCFS credit reporting here.
When we asked Brad whether he would recommend Flipturn, he replied: “Absolutely. Every opportunity I get, I bring up Flipturn. Flipturn brings unbelievable value to the EV space. And, I’m assuming it will be like that for multiple different types of fleets, whether it be class eight heavy duty EV trucks in California, or a bus fleet in the midwest that's going electric. The value is from managing the day to day, understanding how to save money on the energy side, and the reporting.”
At Flipturn, we also understand that new challenges with electrification may arise over time. Just like with 4 Gen, Flipturn takes a high touch approach when working with all of our customers; we meet regularly, are willing to hop on the phone, and listen to understand customer problems deeply before suggesting solutions. As a result, we end up operating as a software provider and a partner; in Brad’s words, “it's just been exciting to see the platform that Flipturn has built and what it has become today. And so far, the partnership's been amazing; as we start to roll out our fleet on a big scale of over 60 units, we look forward to what the future holds.”
Flipturn is a leading charging management solution for fleets and charging depots. Flipturn provides a comprehensive solution that minimizes utility costs with energy management, improves charger uptime and issue resolution speed, and provides powerful cost per mile and range insights for EV operations.
