From the Desk of Chris Stovall 
 
National Safe Digging Month has been a great opportunity for our industry. Stakeholders across the nation have participated in many different activities to raise awareness and we continue to see increases in notification volume year after year. 811 is extremely effective when used. The CGA reports that the likelihood of a damage drops to less than 1% when a call to 811 is made prior to excavation. With numbers like that it's easy to see the impact we can have on safety by increasing awareness and utilization of the One Call system.

I recently had the privilege of sharing our message of damage prevention and public safety on the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network to be released in conjunction with National Safe Digging Month. The Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network is the #1 Agricultural News Network in Texas, with over 68 stations covering all of Texas. This month will also mark the annual Texas811 golf tournament and for the first time ever we will be donating the proceeds to the Damage Prevention Councils of Texas. These councils do such much for their regions to impact safety and continuously improve the process.
 
I am proud to serve members like we have at Texas811. Your proactive approach to damage prevention is making a huge impact on Texas safety. The numbers show that the system works really well when it's used and that is a testament to years of hard work and a dedication to excellence by our over 1700 members. Thank you for your membership, your partnership, and your commitment to keeping our great state a safe place to live and work.
 
 
Sincerely,

Chris Stovall
President & CEO
Texas811
In This Issue

This is the third issue of the new Texas811 Member Newsletter.  We'll include content relevant to our members; news you can use.  Expect to see an issue in your inbox once a quarter.  Feel free to pass this to others within your organization.  If they are interested in getting a copy every quarter, ask them to click below to be added to the distribution list.
All Texas811 Members have free access to Texas811 Ticket Management Plus.

Are you taking advantage of it?

Incident Manager is one feature of Texas811 Ticket Management Plus. It's a web-based software that provides a quick, efficient, and accurate tool for tracking incidents and underground damages.

Contact Member Relations at memberrelations@texas811.org for more information.

Holiday Reminder

Texas811 is now observing all state holidays. This means these holidays will not be included in the 48-hour wait period before excavation can begin. Here are upcoming dates to keep in mind.
  • Monday, May 28, Memorial Day
  • Tuesday, June 19, Emancipation Day
  • Wednesday, July 4, Independence Day
Texas811's Customized Solutions has Developed Four Unique Applications to Save our Members Money on Their
Overall Locating Expenses


Can we help you?

Customized Solutions offers your company a full suite of one-call and damage prevention services that can significantly reduce your overall locating expenses.

Update Filtering
Excavators request Updates for two reasons: they want to extend the life of the ticket or the locator's marks are no longer visible and need to be remarked. Texas law allows operators to decide whether to respond to a ticket that is updated only to extend the life of a ticket.

Update Filtering captures when an excavator says they are requesting an Update to extend the life of the ticket, but they believe the lines do not need to be remarked. This gives you the option of not going back to the worksite when the excavator says the lines are still visible and saving the associated locating expenses. Members using Update Filtering are clearing about 5% of their total ticket volume.

Secondary Research (Ticket Screening)
Utility companies spend up to 40% of their locating budgets on notices that are marked "Cleared" or "No Conflict" by the locator at the worksite. Often these locates can be cleared with additional research at the notification center prior to being sent to locators. Members using Secondary Research are experiencing clear rates between 25% and 60% of locates on their overall volume thus saving the associated locating expenses.

Savings vary based on the number of locates a utility receives a month and the preciseness of the underground facility mapping (unbuffered or centerline data).

Damage Reduction through Analytics
Analytics - using data to increase knowledge and understanding - holds great promise for one-call notification and damage prevention. What we used to only imagine has now become reality.

Texas811 populates the risk assessment model with tens of millions pieces of historical data to predetermine the level of risk for damages from a specific notification. Factors considered: excavator history, type of line in the worksite, geographic area, excavating equipment used, excavation depth, etc.

Research suggests that 10% of locate requests lead to more than 50% of excavation damages. So providing you with a real-time Risk Assessment Score gives you new tools for early intervention and enhanced damage prevention.

Texas811 helps you recognize these risks and respond to them before they become damages, providing the intervention via a phone call to the excavator.

Locator Auditing
Texas811 will introduce Locator Auditing later this spring. Locator Auditing allows a utility to track:
  • Locates not completed with 48 hours, including the number of "No Response" tickets issued against your locator.
  • Locator performance based on financial parameters of your contract with your third party locator.
Locator Auditing can be adapted to track any aspect of the one-call process that a member requests helping you to better manage your financial arrangements with your third party locators to make sure you are getting what you pay for.

Contact Kyle VanLandingham, Director of Customized Solutions, at kylevanlandingham@texas811.org or 972-280-8783 to learn what Customized Solutions can mean for you.

International Utility Locate Rodeo 2018

Texas811 is hosting the International Utility Locate Rodeo for the third time this October. This event is the world championship for locators. Locators compete on a pre-determined course of locates and are judged on a number of factors including accuracy and speed.

If you have in-house locators, you should consider enrolling them to compete. It is a way to reward them for the jobs they do every day to protect your underground facilities. It is also an opportunity for locators to meet their counterparts from around the country to share experiences and learn from each other.

The rodeo will be October 10-12, 2018 in the DFW area. Early bird entry fees are $200 per competitor if registered by July 15.

Hosting this competition is part of Texas811's Damage Prevention Outreach. We work to enhance all aspects of utility locating; we're much more than a notification processing center. http://www.locaterodeo.net