Johnson Service Co. Boosts CCTV Productivity by 20% Across 7,634 Field Hours

Overview

Johnson Service Company is a family-owned sewer cleaning and inspection firm based in Osceola, Nebraska, operating under Midlands — a utility contractor founded in the 1970s specializing in underground infrastructure. President Brad Wagner acquired Johnson Service Company in the early 2000s to bring video verification in-house for every new sanitary sewer install. Today, Johnson Service Co. runs six full-time trenchless crews, including four cleaning and CCTV crews serving Nebraska and Kansas on 99% municipal work, one manhole rehab crew, and one full-time CIPP lining crew.

The Challenge

Legacy Software and Fragmented Storage Created Bottlenecks

Since 2001, Johnson Service Company had relied on POSM software for color-coded reports. But behind the scenes, inefficiencies compounded: multiple crews dropped off thumb drives weekly, the office became the only data hub, footage got lost, maps lacked continuity, and over 24 TB of legacy video accumulated — creating a chaotic, manual review process.

In the field, hand-coded PACP entries led to inconsistent ratings and human error. On mains with 30 or more taps, crews stopped constantly to type in defects — stop-and-go inefficiency that compounded every mile. For a contractor managing fixed annual maintenance contracts with four-year inspection cycles, there was no room for slippage.

Why SewerAI

Midlands evaluated several options before choosing SewerAI. It was the first solution that offered both AI-powered defect coding and centralized data management — something no other vendor could match. Johnson Service Co. began with a single crew, running POSM alongside SewerAI's AutoCode. Within a week, the time savings were undeniable.

"I mean, SewerAI was kind of the first one that really had everything that we wanted. We needed speed – AI looked like the answer."

— Bret Melson, Operations Manager

After six months of pilot use, they fully equipped all five vans with PIONEER™. For a contractor where adding another CCTV crew would cost over $1.6 million, boosting the productivity of existing crews was the only practical path forward.

Implementation

After more than two decades on legacy software, Johnson Service Co. made the leap to SewerAI in early 2023. SewerAI's Customer Implementation and Support teams worked hand-in-hand with Johnson's crews to migrate data, train operators, and fully onboard the platform — with zero downtime and no disruption to day-to-day operations.

Pilot — 6 Months (1 Crew)

Remote video training; AutoCode uploads while retaining existing software. Field feedback confirmed time savings within the first week.

Fleet-Wide Rollout — 3 Months

PIONEER installed on all 5 vans; operators fully ramped within days.

Change Management — Ongoing

Field feedback loops with SewerAI Customer Success; zero downtime throughout.

"We started with one crew…uploaded and AutoCoded some footage. After that first six months the time savings were obvious. We decided… We have to go all in. By that January, we had all of our vans set up with PIONEER software. It was a no-brainer."

— Bret Melson, Operations Manager

Results

20% Increase in Daily Production

Crews now inspect 20% more linear feet per day — freeing up the equivalent of three months of extra production annually without adding a fifth crew. Across 7,634 field hours, the productivity gains were consistent and measurable.

1.8 Million Feet of Footage — Instantly Accessible

PIONEER now houses over 1.8 million feet of inspection data, accessible to both office staff and field crews within minutes of upload — no SSDs, no delays, no lost drives.

$1.7M Capital Cost Avoided

Crews upload footage straight from the field; AutoCode returns results — usually within 24 hours, always within 10 days — eliminating the manual-coding backlog and the need for a $1.7 million additional camera unit.

Customer Satisfaction

"Utilities love filtering inspections instead of paging through binders and thumb drives. Cloud storage means they can't lose years of work."

— Bret Melson, Operations Manager

"There was very little change, except the guys loved it – they didn't have to sit there and code everything anymore. Right from the start, the first guy I had try it came back after his first week and said, 'Oh my God, please, can we do this? Don't make us go back to what we were doing before'."

— Bret Melson, Operations Manager

Business Impact

By switching to SewerAI, Johnson Service Co. didn't just modernize inspections — they changed the way they win work, serve customers, and protect their territory.

• Faster Bids: "I can look at the video ten minutes after they upload and have a quote in the city's hands that night."
• Territory Moat: "We built a fence around Nebraska; speed keeps competitors out."
• Data Insurance: Cities can't lose ten years of history when staff retire or hard drives vanish.
• Crew-to-Crew Clarity: From inspection to lining, crews work from the same cloud platform — no lost drives, no delays.