Ultimate Tool and Safety

Shaping the Future of Utility Field Services

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Casey Corey, VP of Sales and Fleet Services; Brett Young, President and Alita Stratton, VP of Finance, Ultimate Tool and safetyCasey Corey, VP of Sales and Fleet Services; Brett Young, President and Alita Stratton, VP of Finance
Ultimate Tool & Safety, a prominent provider of safety services and solutions, stands at the forefront of the utility industry. It specializes in delivering essential tooling and safety equipment for powerline construction and, through its Premier Fleet Solutions (PFS) brand, provides a comprehensive platform of fleet services that guarantee workplace safety and productivity. The company began as a safety inspection service provider in 2007 and has since evolved into a field fleet service powerhouse committed to delivering a full suite of mobile fleet services, including safety inspections, maintenance, repair, and even vehicle sales and rentals. Serving as a holistic field fleet services provider, PFS can confidently and expertly address the industry’s high-touch, high-service fleet management needs.

PFS’s prominence and growth trajectory have been shaped by its ability to understand and adapt to customers’ ever-changing fleet servicing requirements and consistently deliver innovative solutions that exceed these expectations. Its commitment to customer service and technological innovations capable of reducing industry risks has served as the catalyst for its rapid growth, cementing its position as an industry-leading fleet services solution provider. “We are constantly pushing our boundaries to ensure our customer service remains the best in the industry and that we are bringing our customers technological innovations that make their lives easier,” says Brett Young, President of Premier Fleet Solutions.

We are constantly pushing our boundaries to ensure our customer service remains the best in the industry and that we are bringing our customers technological innovations that make their lives easier



Bridging Market Gaps with All-in-one Solution

PFS directed its focus toward utility field services over a decade ago when it recognized an opportunity in a market dominated by a handful of large, established players. It observed utility companies were commonly frustrated with poor service and exorbitant pricing. The team then embarked on a mission to address these challenges, prioritizing best-in-class service—a commitment that defines its business model and ethos. PFS pledges a service standard where customers’ needs are met professionally, efficiently, and effectively. Following its customers’ requests, PFS has recently expanded its service offering beyond dielectric testing and inspections into mobile fleet maintenance, repair, and supply. This positions PFS as a one-stop-shop for customers’ fleet service requirements, providing its customary assurance of premier customer service now across a wider platform of services.

“Our commitment toward customer-centricity, superior service, and technological innovation has driven the constant evolution in our fleet services business, with PFS now representing a novel simplicity for customers—a singular point of contact for all your fleet service needs,” says Young.

Instead of customers juggling multiple field service providers for safety inspections, maintenance, and repairs, PFS provides all three – wherever you need them to be. Isolating high-quality technicians is challenging and time-consuming. PFS provides customers one company to trust for all of these services, helping customers streamline their fleet operations while reducing mobilization expenses amid escalating labor and fuel costs. This breadth of service translates into tangible savings for customers, showcasing PFS as a leader in efficiency and cost-effectiveness within the industry.

Evolving in Response to Client Requirements

The core focus at PFS is to deliver a complete fleet services solution for the utility industry, and the team has stayed true to this goal, ever evolving its service offering to respond to its customers’ specialized needs. The company has consistently centered its ethos on two key principles—delivering top-tier customer service and pursuing technological advancements that assist customers in streamlining their operations. These guiding principles have been instrumental in propelling PFS’s journey from its humble origins as a utility vehicle testing service specialist to a leading provider of a full range of fleet services. Adhering to these core values has also empowered PFS to rapidly expand its service territory across the Southeast, Southwest, and beyond.

Initially, PFS concentrated its efforts on fleet safety services, particularly mobile dielectric testing and inspections. Over time, it identified a crucial gap between its customers’ needs in the field versus those at the corporate level, particularly around reporting and data accessibility.

This prompted the company’s first step, years ago, into technological innovation by leading PFS to engineer a digital reporting solution, departing from the industry’s reliance on traditional paper reports.
This customer-service-oriented innovative approach addressed customers’ immediate need for on-the-go reporting and cloud-based data accessibility, which set the stage for the company’s initial growth across the South and Southwest.

Digitizing Operations with Robust Fleet Management Platform

As PFS expanded its operations geographically, it engaged with a regional electric utility contractor that was struggling to maintain the dielectric test and inspection dates on its fleet. Regardless of the number of spreadsheets it maintained, its fleet’s movement and repair work continued to complicate the testing schedules. The customer asked PFS to help them rethink their processes. After evaluating the customer’s difficulties, PFS identified the customer’s need for a single source of truth for its fleet’s inspection dates and reports, while also allowing for real-time data access and shared editing capabilities. This realization set the stage for PFS’s next evolution.


“It was while attempting to solve this customer’s problem that we took a strategic turn toward building our current fleet service platform,” says Young.

Compounding its learnings from its data accessibility and reporting solution, PFS focused on expanding the scope of this platform to further improve its value to its customers. To this end, it has developed a browser-based asset management platform that provides customers real-time access to the maintenance of its fleet, replacing antiquated spreadsheets with a dynamic solution. The platform links each digital test, inspection, maintenance, and repair report to a customer’s specific asset, along with comprehensive information about the asset, historical inspection and maintenance track records, and 360-degree photos.

  • Our commitment toward customer centricity, superior service, and technological innovation has driven the constant evolution in our fleet services business, with PFS now representing a novel simplicity for customers—a singular point of contact for all our customers’ fleet service needs

After a period of development, PFS successfully implemented this asset management platform into the customer’s fleet processes, resolving the data maintenance challenges the customer was experiencing when it originally engaged with PFS. The platform is now seamlessly integrated into the customer’s internal operations and provides each of the customer’s team members with personalized access to the platform.

PFS’s browser-based platform serves as a game changer to customers still using static spreadsheet approaches to data and asset management. Its system is updated in real-time, allowing customers to log in to their fleet portal at any time and immediately gain access to the most up-to-date safety and maintenance data, which has been instrumental in addressing the challenges customers face related to maintaining the compliance and maintenance data of a large and moving asset base.

These innovations, and resulting improvements in customer service, have further fueled PFS’s growth, which now includes customers located throughout the South, Midwest, Southeast, and into the East Coast.

Achieving Excellence in Every Project

Recently, a large utility contractor’s fleet team approached PFS for assistance after experiencing a period of poor performance from its prior fleet maintenance provider. Moreover, with thousands of vehicles operating across the U.S., the customer felt disconnected from its asset base and was frustrated by its inability to actually see its fleet. The customer was looking for a new service provider that would provide improved results, while also able to deliver something incremental and innovative. This customer demand again fueled evolution in PFS’s data management solution. Now, after servicing a vehicle, PFS crews are able to film short walk-around videos of the vehicle idling. These videos show a 360-degree visual overview of the vehicles, a visual confirmation of each of the services that were provided, and most importantly, proof of the mechanical state of the vehicle. PFS then uploads these videos to its fleet management platform, providing true visibility to the customer’s fleet team for the first time.

The Future of Managed Services

PFS is led by a diverse team that pairs extensive industry experience with new and innovative approaches taken from other industries. Casey Corey, UTS’s VP of Sales and Fleet Services, was born into the utility industry. He was working for his family’s utility construction business from as early as he can remember. His three decades of industry experience allows him a deep understanding of the customer’s needs and the equipment involved. This understanding allows him to drive PFS’s efforts to bring further service optimization to its customers. Looking forward, his sights are set on delivering managed fleet services to customers. “We are already on-site, touching our customers’ fleet multiple times per year. The logical next step of incremental value we can provide our customers is to actually take responsibility from the customer for the fleet’s servicing and maintenance,” says Young. Through providing this new managed service, PFS plans to seamlessly integrate into its customers’ fleet teams. By maintaining the customer’s service requirements for them, from diagnosis and troubleshooting to repair and maintenance, and testing and inspections, PFS will act as the customer’s partner in all things fleet service. In minimizing the back and forth between the customer and the service provider, PFS can save customers significant time and expense while guaranteeing their fleet is in safe - and highly-monitored - hands. PFS’s journey, characterized by continuous evolution, fueled by its customer-centric approach and dedication to innovation, will establish PFS as an industry leader in safety, maintenance, and fleet services for the utility sector.
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Top 10 Utilities Field Service Management Solutions Companies – 2023

Company
Ultimate Tool and Safety

Management
Casey Corey, VP of Sales and Fleet Services; Brett Young, President and Alita Stratton, VP of Finance

Description
Ultimate Tool & Safety (UT&S), founded in 2007, has emerged as a pioneer in the utility industry, evolving from a safety inspection service provider to a comprehensive fleet services powerhouse branded as Premier Fleet Solutions. Its growth has been rooted in a commitment to safety, customer service, and technological innovation to help simplify risk management for its customers.