CASE STUDY
How a Large Retailer Found $1.1M in Fleet Savings at One Site
A large retailer was managing a mixed motive power fleet across five distribution sites in North America, with batteries, chargers, and sizing decisions already in place. What 90 days of continuous cellular monitoring found at one facility surprised everyone — including the team that ran it.
5 Sites | 90 Days of Continuous Monitoring | No New Equipment
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THE CHALLENGE
A Well-Managed Fleet. An Incomplete Picture.
The operation wasn't broken. Batteries and chargers were already installed. Sizing decisions had already been made — based on the standard approach of planning for peak demand.
But nobody had measured what daily demand actually looked like once the equipment was running. Each site had its own picture. Nobody had a complete one.
The questions that couldn't be answered with confidence:
- Were the batteries sized for how the fleet actually runs — or for how it was expected to run at peak?
- Was the charger infrastructure being fully utilized — or were units sitting idle that nobody had tracked?
- How far off were the original sizing assumptions from what the equipment actually needed?
Without continuous, connected monitoring, every answer was an estimate.
"The sizing assumptions were conservative everywhere. Nobody had measured by how much."
THE APPROACH
Continuous Cellular Monitoring. No Wi-Fi Required. No New Equipment Purchased.
SCT deployed BATTlink and CHARGlink across all five North American distribution sites, with a deep-dive engagement at one facility. Each device connects over cellular — no facility Wi-Fi dependency, no IT infrastructure required at any location. The monitoring ran continuously across both asset classes simultaneously.
Battlink — Battery Intelligence
Continuous utilization tracking across every battery in the fleet — actual daily capacity draw versus installed capacity, charge cycle patterns, and health over time. Works across lead-acid and Li-Ion from any manufacturer.
Charglink — Charger Intelligence
Charger activity and performance monitoring across every site — usage rates, idle detection, charging event timing relative to utility rate windows, and missing or misallocated units.
Truklink — Truck Utilization
Truck-level utilization data across every OEM brand and model in the fleet — which assets carry the load, which run below capacity, and how the distribution varies across sites and shifts.
The engagement ran for 90 days. During that period, the platform built a continuous record at the facility — not a snapshot, not a study window, but a rolling picture that captured shift changes and how the site actually operates day to day.
Why Cellular Connectivity Mattered Here
Across five sites, Wi-Fi coverage consistency is never guaranteed. SCT's cellular-connected devices transmitted data from every location without requiring facility networking infrastructure — which meant the monitoring worked everywhere, from day one.
THE FINDINGS
Three Areas. Consistent Patterns. Numbers That Changed the Conversation.
At the site profiled here, 90 days of monitoring surfaced findings in two categories. Each one pointed to a specific type of decision. Each one had data behind it that the operation had never had access to before.
Finding 1 — Charger Utilization & Right-Sizing
Chargers across the site averaged 46% utilization. Nearly a third — 41 of 140 — were used less than 30% of the time. The distribution of activity bore little resemblance to how the charging infrastructure was originally configured.
So what?
Actual charger demand supported removing or relocating 30 units outright — redeployment and removal opportunities identified before any new purchase was considered.
Finding 2 — Battery Right-Sizing
Original battery sizing assumptions were dramatically conservative. 24V assets used only 23.5% of their estimated charge capacity. 36V assets used just 33.4%. The gap between installed capacity and actual daily draw was consistent and measurable.
So what?
The battery fleet could be right-sized with precision — not on assumption, but on 90 days of actual measured usage.
THE IMPACT
Over $1.1M in Identified Savings. Found in 90 Days.
"The savings were already there. The monitoring made them visible."
The findings across both categories translated into identified savings opportunities the operation could act on — in the current equipment cycle and in future purchase decisions.
The savings weren't created by the monitoring. They were already in the fleet. The monitoring made them visible for the first time — with the data to back every finding.
What the operation now had that it didn't before:
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A current, measured picture of charger utilization — replacing assumptions with 90 days of actual activity data
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Battery sizing data that showed original assumptions were 60–75% off from actual usage
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Right-sizing opportunities across both batteries and chargers — the foundation for a capital-planning conversation grounded in evidence
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What People Ask Before Downloading
How much can continuous fleet monitoring save?
Savings vary based on fleet size, configuration, and current monitoring. In this North American engagement, SCT identified $1,097,000 in savings opportunities at a single distribution site across 90 days of continuous monitoring. The most consistent finding across SCT-monitored fleets is that original sizing assumptions run well ahead of actual daily demand — creating right-sizing and redeployment opportunities that directly affect capital spend.
What does continuous fleet monitoring actually find?
Two categories surface consistently: charger utilization imbalances (uneven activity across units, some barely used) and battery sizing gaps (installed capacity running well above actual daily demand). The specific findings vary by fleet, but the patterns repeat across operations of different sizes and industries.
How does SCT's monitoring work across multiple sites?
SCT's devices — BATTlink and CHARGlink — connect over cellular. No facility Wi-Fi is required. This means the monitoring works consistently across all locations regardless of each site's networking infrastructure. For multi-site operations, this is the difference between a partial picture and a complete network view.
Does the monitoring require new equipment?
No. SCT's monitoring devices are installed on existing batteries and chargers — regardless of manufacturer or model. The engagement documented in this case study identified $1,097,000 in savings at one site without the operation purchasing a single new piece of equipment.
How long does it take to see results?
Meaningful patterns typically emerge within the first 30 days. A complete picture develops over 60 to 90 days. The 90-day engagement in this case study surfaced $1,097,000 in identified savings within that window.
Is this case study relevant to my operation if I don't run a large retail distribution network?
Yes. The two categories of findings — charger utilization gaps and battery sizing gaps — are consistent across industries. This site's profile reflects the operational reality of most medium-to-large motive power fleets in warehousing, food and beverage, manufacturing, and retail distribution. The specific numbers will differ. The pattern is highly repeatable.
WHAT MADE THIS POSSIBLE
The Smart Telemetrics Platform
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Smart Telemetrics brings all three data streams into one continuous, cellular-connected view — brand-agnostic, no Wi-Fi required, built for mixed fleets.
Request a Fleet Visibility Review — a current-state picture of your batteries, chargers, and trucks. No equipment purchase required.