Frontier Gas Achieved Efficiency Gains of 28% through Route Optimization

OPTIMIZED METER READING ROUTES REDUCED OPERATING COSTS

Frontier Natural Gas, a regional utility firm based in Elkin, North Carolina, achieved significant cost savings by optimizing its meter reading routes across a six-county radius serving residential, commercial, and municipal customers. Its goal was to streamline meter reading routes, improve route efficiency, and reduce fuel and operational costs. By partnering with RouteSmart Technologies for route planning and optimization, Frontier reduced operating costs by more than $7,000 per year, earning a return on investment in just seven months. In addition to the financial benefits this project yielded, the meter reading team
expressed less frustration because the improved routes have made their jobs less difficult.

SITUATION

Frontier serves a large, spread-out territory with challenging terrain, including mountainous areas that makes it difficult to create the most efficient routes.

IMPACT

As a result, the route plans were illogical, and Frontier spent much more than it needed on fuel, mileage, and vehicle costs. Inefficient routes also led to billing inaccuracies and customer dissatisfaction. Marlee Tolbert, an accountant at Frontier, approached RouteSmart in January with the goal of optimizing meter reading routes.

RESULTS

After implementing Routing as a Service (RaaS), Frontier was able to decrease the number of routes (from 27 to 17), decrease travel time by 28%, decrease total distance traveled by 36% (along with fuel consumption), and increase productivity from their meter readers.