Jason Gerard is an operations leader at One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, where he oversees fleet, safety, IT systems, and financing.
The company has been operating for over 40 years and has grown through more than 10 acquisitions. Today, they manage a fleet of about 70 vehicles, with many technicians dispatching directly from home.
As the business scaled, so did the complexity of managing fuel across the fleet. With limited time and increasing operational demands, Jason needed systems that were reliable, easy to use, and, most importantly, gave him real-time visibility into what was happening in the field.
Before Coast, they relied on Comdata, but ongoing issues with reliability, visibility, and support pushed Jason to look for a better solution.
See how Coast works by taking an interactive tour
The Challenges
Legacy systems created constant friction, lacked transparency, and made it difficult to stay ahead of problems. Jason and his team struggled with several key issues while using Comdata:
Outdated, difficult-to-use platform
The legacy system was unintuitive and time-consuming to navigate, making even simple tasks frustrating and inefficient.
Inconsistent and unresponsive customer support
Frequent turnover in account management left Jason without a reliable point of contact when issues arose. “Within a month, I lost complete communication and then just had to deal with whoever answered the phone,” he says.
Confusing rewards programs with no transparency
The company was enrolled in rewards programs that they didn’t fully understand, leading to lost value. “We didn’t even know we had points… and then they said we lost all these other points because we didn’t redeem them,” says Jason.
No real-time visibility into fueling issues
When transactions failed, Jason often found out only after drivers had already wasted time or money. Technicians would sometimes even cover fuel costs themselves and submit receipts later. “They’d be bringing a receipt and say, ‘I’ll put my own money in the gas,'” he explains.
The Solution
Real-time visibility, proactive alerts, and a dramatically improved user experience.
One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning chose Coast to gain better control over fuel operations and eliminate the day-to-day friction Jason was experiencing.
- Reliable, responsive customer support: Coast provided the consistent communication and support Jason had been missing, giving him confidence in the system.
- Intuitive platform with real-time data:The Coast dashboard made it easy to navigate, monitor activity, and quickly understand what was happening across the fleet. “The Coast portal is easy to navigate and the real-time data is helpful,” Jason says.
- Real-time alerts for declines and transaction issues: Instead of discovering problems after the fact, Jason now receives immediate notifications when something goes wrong. With real-time visibility, Jason can step in immediately—often before the driver even calls.
“I love the interaction that I get for flags or declines… I’m probably getting 2 or 3 a day.”
The Results
Since switching to Coast, One Hour HVAC has seen immediate operational improvements:
✅ Significant time savings, with fewer disruptions in the field
✅ Real-time problem detection and resolution
✅ Reduced out-of-pocket expenses for drivers
✅ Unprecedented visibility into operations
One Hour HVAC’s move to Coast gave them more control over spend, faster problem resolution, and significant time savings.
Explore Coast’s interactive demo to see how you can streamline your expenses.
