Connectivity: The Top Three Advantages For The Future Of Your Construction Fleet

When it comes to adopting telematics it’s no longer a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’. Technologies such as drones and autonomous vehicles might get all the headlines, but they are a while from becoming a reality on construction sites. For investments that keep your business competitive in the real world, telematics should be your main priority.

There’s a lag in adopting GPS fleet tracking software in the construction industry. Old habits die hard and many still rely on pen and paper for day-to-day activities. It’s traditionally what they’ve always done while others that have adapted are still in the early stages. Connecting what happens on your sites and throughout your business gives you visibility to know what’s happening. This gives you the insight you need to make better decisions. 

Here are three advantages of connectivity.

A Single View For Data

Information overload can be a bottleneck. Over mixed fleets and multiple sites, there’s a lot of data to analyse. When each component within your fleet collects and stores data differently, it makes comparisons confusing and time consuming. Siloed information means you miss wider trends like jobsite congestion or under-utilised assets. To really get valuable insight, data needs to be collected and viewed in one place. For instance, telematics integrated with sensors can create geofences. These let you see what assets are coming on and offsite or how long they’ve been idle. They can be moved to a different site or sent in for maintenance as needed.

Integrate Back-Office Systems

Integrating ERP systems with telematics gives managers and owners insight into how assets are being used. Collecting this data makes it easier to accurately bill clients and calculate operating costs. It also lets other departments such as accounting, HR and customer service improve workflows and decisions. You may be already using both an ERP and telematics solution, but without integration, you either need to manually enter the telematics data into the ERP – a menial and time-intensive task – or miss out on business-side insight. Integration means accurate asset lists and maintenance costs and allows better machine/equipment lifecycle planning. It can take multiple systems to run a fleet, and an integrated solution needs to work together for efficiency.

Meet Compliance Requirements

For many fleet managers compliance is an on-going hassle. If you have on-road vehicles as well as off-road assets, figuring out how best to manage them all is a reality you’re well acquainted with. Even though you can’t yet replace paper diaries with EWDs (electronic work diaries), using them in conjunction can increase driver and back office efficiency. Work and rest times are recorded automatically and sent back to the office, ensuring drivers aren’t overworked and audits can be done quickly. Fleet management solutions ensure compliance with other restrictions and regulations. Records of equipment usage can help you stay within noise curfews. Geofencing ensures your operators stay within the confines of your work site and quickly alerts you of any breaches.

Telematics is laying the groundwork for future advancements and investing in them now will have an immediate impact on your operations and asset utilisation. If you’re late to the technology train, don’t put it off any longer. It’s time to ditch pen and paper and go digital.