Why video telematics the next step in tackling driver distraction
Every day, telematics systems bring new cost and operational efficiencies to jobsites and overall contractor operations. From real-time equipment visibility and fuel savings to improved fleet utilisation, theft prevention, preventive maintenance optimisation and more, GPS-based fleet tracking technology arms fleet managers with vital information for keeping operations efficient and minimize waste. But as with so many things, the devil is in the details.
Most non-OEM telematics systems or platforms support all equipment makes, models and years, enabling easy management of mixed-brand fleets. Most also offer basic functionality such as real-time mapping of equipment location and automated documentation of engine hours. But much more is required to identify realistic savings opportunities, improve asset allocation, and otherwise make a difference in the bottom line.
If you are preparing to take the fleet tracking plunge, here is a checklist of 10 "must have" features to ensure that you get the maximum return on your investment.
1. Ruggedised hardware with anti-theft engineering
Extreme off-road conditions require extreme GPS tracking - that is, hardened, purpose-built devices specifically designed to withstand weather, dirt and shock. In addition, hardware should be engineered to enable early theft detection and recovery. Features to look for include a motion sensor that detects movement of parked vehicles (indicating that the asset is being loaded onto a flatbed), a tamper-resistant antenna to prevent a thief from disabling the GPS signal, an emergency mode to increase GPS transmission frequency if the device power is cut or the machine moves without being turned on, and a backup battery to ensure that the asset can still be located for months even if the wires that power the device are cut.
2. Industrial-strength geofencing
The ability to electronically 'geofence' jobsites or other work zones is a core telemetry monitoring function that makes it possible to spot unauthorised machine use, detect a theft in progress, and track equipment use and associated costs by project, but systems without large geofence capacities limit or even negate the value of this feature. Choosing a platform that can support 100 simultaneous geofences or more ensures that geofences are automatically reassigned when a machine moves to a new jobsite, eliminating the risk of losing geofence visibility and related benefits if a busy equipment manager forgets to make the switch manually.
3. Jobsite utilisation reports
Standard asset utilisation reports show daily, weekly and/or monthly usage information for each machine, making it possible to pinpoint which assets are unused or underused across the fleet. Systems that also offer jobsite-based asset utilisation reporting ? based on geofencing ? unlock a powerful new array of fleet optimisation opportunities. These reports can facilitate better cost accounting, reduce write-offs for unallocated asset hours, improve asset management on individual projects, track subcontractor hours, and improve bidding on future projects by providing accurate documentation of asset use on different kinds of jobs.
4. Sensor support
Be sure that the telematics system you select can be connected to sensors that can help avert disasters like engine overheating, distinguish between work time and idle time, and measure the use of attachments like dump bed switches. With sensors hardwired to the GPS tracking unit in a given machine, fleet operators can receive alerts that might save a $100,000 engine, gather data on attachment usage that can uncover inefficiencies and more.
5. Advanced fuel management
Every telematics system can help trim fuel consumption with features like idling reports, but the ability to measure actual fuel burn is a new development that can help detect fuel theft and fuel-related equipment problems, eliminate unnecessary refueling trips, and document fuel use for job costing. Data collected in the field with the telematics system and partner hardware can generate fuel reports by asset, jobsite, fueling event, fueling vehicle and more ? replacing algorithm calculations with actual measurements including fuel burn rate in gallons per hour.
6. Combined on- and off-road management
All contractors have on-highway vehicles such as fuel trucks, flatbed equipment haulers and supervisors' cars in addition to heavy equipment, but until a few years ago it was necessary to purchase two different fleet tracking systems for the two sets of assets. Now some telematics platforms consolidate the management of on-highway vehicles and off-road heavy construction equipment into a single application, making it possible to see the entire fleet on a single real-time map as well as manage and view all reports from a common interface.
7. Drill-down dashboards
Some telematics dashboards are easier to use and more informative than others. For real-time visibility into fleet performance, look for products with dashboards designed to deliver maximum insight with minimum effort. That includes customisability to display the KPIs that are most important to you, colour-coded alerts for metrics exceeding user-defined thresholds, hover-over graphical display that reveals data breakdown, and ? for true at-your-fingertips information ? interactive drilldown that lets you point-and-click your way to data on asset groups or even individual machines without leaving the dashboard to consult system reports.
8. Mobile app
Fleet operations and issues don't stop when you're away from your desktop, so being able to keep tabs on your fleet when you're on the road is a big plus. Best-of-breed mobile telematics apps do more than displaying maps indicating where each scraper, skid steer or other machine is located. Some solutions also provide geofence map views for spotting assets that have strayed off a given jobsite, "replay a day" functionality for tracing asset movements, and even tap-and-send messaging and turn-by-turn navigation abilities for communicating with machine operators or on-road drivers.
9. Open, bidirectional Application Programming Interface (API)
Having a mechanism to automatically integrate telematics data with maintenance programs, accounting systems, payroll applications and other back-office software saves time and eliminates error-prone manual data entry. Your fleet tracking platform of choice should offer an open, bidirectional API allowing two-way data exchange with third-party applications with no manual intervention.
10. Professional services
For larger telematics systems installations, professional deployment assistance can reduce rollout and configuration time by up to 80%, produce a 50% faster return on investment, and help fleet managers get more bang for their buck by providing hands-on training that typically doubles the number of system features used. Selecting a fleet tracking technology vendor with a dedicated professional services team can get you up to speed faster ? and boost the benefits as well.
With these capabilities in place, fleet operators maximise the opportunities for using telematics to reduce waste, improve productivity, and shed light on every aspect of machine and fleet performance. The above 10 features also do a good job of highlighting just how much businesses are leaving on the table. Every piece of yellow iron is now an open book, with analysis by almost every parameter and fleet segment available with a click.
In an economic environment where every dollar counts, these insights have the power to drive steady incremental improvements in fleet management and build more profitable construction businesses. For many contractors today, that means the road to success is paved with telematics.