How One Small Business Improved Operations and Driver Safety with Ford Pro^TM

Like many multigenerational small business owners, Clayton Nicholson wears the badge with pride. He grew up working alongside his father in his family’s California-based commercial landscaping business, Dinsmore Landscape. Today, as president, he’s passionate about continuing the legacy of being a family-owned and -operated small business.

“I’m extremely proud to be a third-generation small business owner,” Nicholson said. “My dad and grandpa worked together at his sand quarry, and when my dad got into landscaping, he set us on the path we’re on today. It’s been a really cool experience to share with him.” Still, Nicholson is the first to admit that running a small business has its challenges.

Recently, Nicholson and his team tackled the challenge of addressing the overwhelming administrative burden of fleet management. Over the past three years, the fleet has grown to 65 vehicles. “We run everything from the F-150® trucks to the F-550® trucks,” Nicholson said. Workers use them to transport equipment, materials, and people to job sites daily, making them critical to our operations.

Despite their rapid growth, Nicholson and his team have lacked effective fleet management systems. “Our process involved too many folders and outdated spreadsheets,” he said. “One day, my office manager came in with a big manilla envelope with past-due vehicle maintenance notices and anything else you can think of related to vehicles. She dropped it on my desk and said, ‘Have fun with this.’”

Growing Without the Pains

Dinsmore’s story perfectly illustrates the double-edged sword of growth. When a small business with limited employees and resources starts to expand quickly, that growth creates operational complexity that can be hard to manage. Nicholson was already working with the Ford Store Morgan Hill to purchase vehicles using the Ford Pro^TM FinSimple^TM Commercial Line of Credit (CLOC)⁷²⁸—a process Nicholson considers “as easy as buying mulch.”

A CLOC⁷²⁸ is an agreed-upon level of credit that may be used for the purchase or lease of commercial vehicles, including those with upfits. A CLOC⁷²⁸ provides the advantage of flexible terms—no setup or nonutilization charges—and gives fleets the opportunity to choose the finance product that best fits their needs. Once approved for a CLOC,⁷²⁸ fleet leaders can add vehicles with peace of mind, knowing their vehicle financing needs are covered year-round.

A CLOC⁷²⁸ can be used to purchase or lease vehicles from any authorized Ford Dealership or Lincoln Retailer across the country. With a CLOC,⁷²⁸ fleets can choose to purchase or lease vehicles via commercial installment, commercial Red Carpet Lease®, and CommerciaLease (TRAC) financing. Ford Pro FinSimple will apply the total amount financed for each vehicle or product to the CLOC⁷²⁸ balance. Fleets will still need to sign a financing agreement with the dealer for each vehicle.

Nicholson wanted a similarly easy-to-implement solution to help alleviate his staff’s admin woes.

After speaking with Mark Wexler, Ford Store Morgan Hill’s Ford Pro Commercial Vehicle & Fleet Sales Director, about his needs, Nicholson activated a Ford Pro^TM Telematics⁸⁶⁷ subscription, which he calls a “game changer.” Ford Pro Telematics⁸⁶⁷ uses the vehicle’s built-in modem (or plug-in devices on 2019 or older Ford models or non-Ford vehicles) to collect valuable data, such as vehicle health alerts (e.g., check engine lights, remaining oil life, etc.). That information passes through the secure Ford Pro^TM Intelligence Platform to the Ford Pro Telematics⁸⁶⁷ dashboard for simple, centralized access.

Along with Ford Pro Telematics,⁸⁶⁷ Dinsmore uses Ford Pro^TM Fleet Management²⁹¹ Software to gain a bird’s-eye view of a vehicle’s maintenance history and schedule service. And using Mobile Service,⁶⁸⁷ Nicholson and his team are able to have routine scheduled maintenance come directly to them, further maximizing the fleet’s uptime. When used together, these products and services become more than the sum of their parts.

“We’ve been on the system now for about three months, and just the other day, someone on our team who’s in charge of scheduling fleet repairs and routine vehicle maintenance said they’ve never been more confident or reassured that the vehicles are being maintained appropriately,” Nicholson said.

Ford Pro Telematics⁸⁶⁷ also captures driving habits (e.g., harsh braking, speeding, seat belt usage), which Nicholson used to expand the company’s safety incentive program. “We have a lot of safety incentives for our field-level employees to encourage them to be responsible in the roles they play, including the role of driver,” Nicholson said. “Seeing everything on the dashboard at a glance has allowed us to have conversations with people on driving habits we weren’t previously tuned into.”

And when Dinsmore is ready to add more vehicles to its fleet, all Nicholson has to do is tap into the company’s existing CLOC.⁷²⁸ “I contact the Ford Store Morgan Hill, and within 24 hours, the truck is delivered to me with a full tank,” Nicholson said. “As soon as the vehicle is set up, it’s put onto our monthly recurring statement, which has made our office manager extremely happy.” Seamless fleet financing processes like this save essential time and resources for small businesses.

By utilizing the Ford Pro suite of solutions, Nicholson and his team have moved from reactive to proactive fleet management. “Our fleet was at a tipping point,” Nicholson said. “Working with Ford Pro has saved us a lot of time on purchasing and managing vehicles. It seems that Ford Pro has a solution for anything fleet related.”

To see how Ford Pro^TM Telematics⁸⁶⁷ could work for your small business, schedule a demo with one of our representatives.