The mobile van era
is ending
Companies across every industry are moving away from mobile vans, scattered clinics, and paper-based programs. Here's why - and what they're moving to.
6 min per test
Test multiple employees at once
Why the old way isn't working
These aren't edge cases. They're the daily reality for companies still relying on mobile vans and paper records.
Mobile van scheduling nightmares
Booking a van 6+ months in advance, coordinating across shifts, then scrambling when weather cancels the visit.
Per-test fees that keep climbing
Mobile van providers charge $45–85 per test, and costs go up every year. Add travel fees for multi-site operations and the math gets ugly fast.
Massive production downtime
Workers leave the floor, walk to a van, wait in line, get tested, walk back. That's 45 minutes of lost production per employee, every year.
Paper records and compliance gaps
Audiograms on paper, training records in a binder, STS follow-ups tracked in spreadsheets. When OSHA shows up, you're scrambling.
The hidden cost of "the way we've always done it"
Van fees + downtime + compliance risk = more than you think
What modern hearing conservation looks like
Soundtrace replaces the patchwork of vendors, vans, and paper with one integrated platform.
Test on any shift
No scheduling vans. Employees test when it works for their schedule - day, night, weekend.
Real companies, real results
From 30-person plants to 2,400-employee operations - here's what changed when they switched.
Ozinga
Verified$92K
Saved in costs & downtime
81
Yards monitored
850+
Employees protected
Mobile vans and off-site clinics caused excessive downtime. Noise levels varied by truck age and yard design. Managing records across five states required constant coordination.
On-demand testing before shifts eliminated downtime. Intelligent noise monitoring tracks exposure across all yards. Cloud-based recordkeeping integrated with HRIS via API.
On-demand testing before shifts keeps our drivers on schedule. We avoided $58K in downtime in the first year alone.
- Ozinga Safety Team
TW Metals
Verified731
Days without a recordable
17
Plants on one platform
100%
Compliance visibility
Different vendors at each of 17 plants. One-day noise surveys missed real day-to-day fluctuations. Tracking OSHA compliance across locations was a constant challenge.
Multi-day noise surveys capture real fluctuations. Automatic recordkeeping by employee and location. Employee engagement improved through 1:1 time with safety team.
731 days without a recordable. Multi-day noise surveys replaced one-day snapshots - now we see the real picture across all 17 plants.
- TW Metals Safety Team
Siemens Healthineers
Verified40%
Reduction in program spend
62%
Less employee downtime
0
Recordable hearing loss injuries
Mobile vans were disruptive and lacked flexibility. Scheduling was difficult. They needed an efficient, employee-friendly process that met compliance needs.
Testing completed over four days at start of shifts. Minimal production disruption. Employees avoided noise exposure before testing for accurate results.
You guys aren't allowed to go anywhere!
- Neil N., EHS Manager
[Name Redacted]
43%
Cost savings year one
99.2%
Test completion rate
$67K
Annual savings
6 mobile van visits across 4 plants. 19% of employees missed their annual test. Paper records made audit prep a 3-day scramble. $156K/year all-in program cost.
In-house testing on any shift. 99.2% test completion. Fully digital records with instant audit exports. Program cost dropped to $89K/year.
We went from dreading testing season to barely noticing it. It just happens now.
- VP of Safety
[Name Redacted]
$48K
Annual savings
0
OSHA citations since switch
7
Sites on one platform
3 different vendors across 7 sites. Inconsistent data formats. Received an OSHA citation for recordkeeping gaps. No centralized compliance dashboard.
One platform, all sites. Consistent data and protocols. Zero citations since implementation. Real-time compliance visibility across every location.
Having one system across all our plants changed everything about our compliance posture.
- Corporate Safety Manager
Hear it from the people who switched
Real words from real safety professionals, HR teams, and operations leaders.
Soundtrace has completely changed how we handle hearing testing. 10/10 experience.
Bob H.
VP of Ops
Soundtrace has given us the flexibility to do Audiometric testing around our busy production schedule. With a great support team to help get the job done!
Tyler L.
Safety Manager
Soundtrace has revolutionized our hearing testing by streamlining the process and significantly reducing overall program costs.
Joe K.
EHS Manager
It couldn't be going any better. It's quick to set up, administer, personal with the one-on-ones, and effective!
Julian D.
HR Manager
The Soundtrace Team
Real people behind the platform. We're with you from onboarding through every test, every audit, every year.
Meet the teamReady to leave the van behind?
Join hundreds of companies who've switched to modern, in-house hearing conservation. See the difference in your first quarter.
Perfect rating on Google