Since entering into an official partnership with each other in early 2023, both Bestpass and Drivewyze wanted to take their relationship to the next level.

That happened this morning, with Bestpass-Fleetworthy announcing a deal to acquire Edmonton-based Drivewyze.

“Every since I met [Drivewyze founder Brian Heath] I was impressed with the business he’s built and the culture he’s built,” Tom Fogarty, Bestpass-Fleetworthy Solutions CEO in an interview with TruckNews.com. “And when I met with our big customers they certainly loved our toll management solution but they wanted us to do more. So we went out and put a partnership in place with Drivewyze. When we first put it in place, Brian was asking me if my investors wanted to sell so we could combine and I think not a month has gone by that one of us didn’t ask the other about combining and taking the partnership to the next level.”

Drivewyze’s scale bypass technology was a good match for Bestpass’s existing capabilities, most notably its toll management offerings. From Heath’s perspective, scale was needed in order to take the companies offerings to the next level.

“We have this bigger mission, which is to revolutionize safety and efficiency in transportation,” Heath said. “And we know we can get there faster at a larger scale at size. If we can start to make lasting changes at scale then that is really something that benefits society, helps our customers and gets us closer to that vision and mission.”

Expanded offerings

Both companies have actively expanded their offerings in recent years. With its 2023 purchase of Fleetworthy Solutions, Bestpass got into the areas of safety management and compliance. Drivewyze rolled out new offerings including Safety+ (offering driver coaching and safety alerts) and Drivewyze Free (offering free in-cab safety alerts for drivers).

Fogarty said customers will benefit from a more integrated and expanded suite of services.

“Drivewyze is a transportation technology leader that offers the industry’s best weigh station bypass solution and proactive in-cab safety alerts — which helps keep drivers and fleets operating more efficiently and safely,” he said in a related release.

“The team shares our core focus on innovation and service to drive superior customer value and satisfaction. We have had a very successful partnership in place, and many of our existing customers also use a weigh station bypass solution to reduce operating costs and driver downtime. This strategic move to acquire Drivewyze will allow us to offer customers a more comprehensive, innovative, and integrated solution.

The two companies already have about a a significant customer overlap, Fogarty noted. “I’d love to make that 100% over the next couple years,” he added, indicating those customers will enjoy the benefit of a single integrated dashboard.

Simplified back office

Asked how the acquisition will improve the experience for end users, Fogarty said “First off, it simplifies their back office and managing the needs of keeping their fleet safe and efficient. And on the government side, I think Bestpass has a long heritage of supporting the toll agencies, which are our government organizations. Brian’s team has built a great business around the safety alerts and some of the infrastructure solutions on the government side.”

He also said the two companies already have envisioned joint product offerings that will be developed going forward.

Drivewyze will continue operating under its existing name and brand, and will maintain its base in Edmonton. “We’ve made a huge investment in Edmonton and in Canada and that’s going to continue,” said Heath.