Dubois County weighs Samsara for vehicle tracking, approves holiday hours and ITAP contact

At the Dec. 2 Dubois County Commissioners meeting, Highway Engineer Brent Wendholt reviewed several operational items and procurement options for county road operations.

Wendholt recommended further review of two vehicle- and asset-tracking options after comparing a Verizon Fleet solution and a Samsara package. He reported Verizon’s offering appeared tailored to long-haul trucking and cited pricing scenarios: Verizon listed $5,476.80 per year (or an expanded current plan at about $6,051 per year) while Samsara’s quote was $7,341.60 per year. Wendholt said several counties recommended Samsara for superior customer service for government users and told the board he believed the extra fee may be worth the additional support; the county attorney was asked to review the Samsara contract and Verizon’s cancellation policy and report back at the next meeting.

On operational items, the board approved a request to change holiday hours at county sanitation sites: for days when sites would normally be open on the Wednesday holidays, the sites will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on the Tuesday prior (Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve). Wendholt also requested and the board approved making him Dubois County’s primary contact on INDOT’s ITAP system, replacing Steve Berg.

Wendholt reported the county missed the deadline to apply for the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program by one day and therefore will apply in the next funding round.

All motions recorded in the highway report were approved by unanimous vote of the commissioners present.