Off-road fleet tracking: who needs it and what are the advantages

Fleets with off-road vehicles and heavy equipment are in need of tracking for many different purposes. In general, knowing where equipment is located and what they are doing are primary benefits. Tracking can also help increase efficiency and driver safety, improve equipment utilization, reduce downtime and cut operational costs.

Overall, off-road fleet tracking can make life easier for the busy fleet manager by providing a centralized place for tracking and managing assets and saving time-related to administrative activities, with dashboards, automated reporting and email or text alerts.

Benefits of Off-road Fleet Tracking

Productivity

• See the location of equipment
• Improve equipment utilization
• Increase uptime

Fleet optimization

• Keep equipment in good running condition with maintenance tracking and scheduling
• Increase speed of service calls with location and diagnosis information (remote troubleshooting)

Customer service

• Know exactly where equipment assets are, for more efficient pick-ups and deliveries
• Improve the accuracy of job estimates and billing

Cost management

• Improve resale value with detailed records of use
• Reduce excessive fuel use and idling
• Reduce labour costs and overtime
• Possible insurance premium savings

Safety

• Minimize the unsafe use of machinery
• Monitor tire pressure and temperature
• Reinforce safe driving and seat belt use
• Gather collision reconstruction data for insurance and training purposes

Security

• Assist in recovering stolen equipment
• Know when vehicles are taken off the job site with geofencing and alerts

Industries in need of off-road fleet management

1. Construction

Construction machinery and equipment are specialized. Ensuring that these valuable assets are properly operated, maintained, and monitored is critical in order to maximize their efficiency and minimize the number of unnecessary costs that must be added to a project.

The fact that assets are high value and often working in remote locations makes them easier targets for theft.

Types of questions asked by construction fleets:

• Is there too much equipment on-site or not enough?
• Is one machine doing too much work compared to others?
• Is a machine sitting idle too long?

Challenge: A fleet has three backhoes on one job site and wants to measure how many hours the equipment is running in order to optimize equipment utilization.

Solution: Track equipment location, state of operation and engine diagnostics. Set up specific rules around expected hours of operation and areas of activity.

Result: By monitoring hours of usage, the fleet learns that two of the backhoes are being utilized four hours a day, but the third is only being used for two hours a week. The fleet manager determines that there is too much equipment at this job site and the third backhoe is moved to a different job site where it can be better utilized, reducing operating costs.

2. Off-road truck and equipment rental

For companies that rent off-road vehicles and equipment, maximizing uptime and providing great service is key to cultivating loyal customers that keep coming back. The rental industry is competitive. Creating efficiency gains and finding ways to improve the customer experience can make a big difference to profitability.

Challenge: Streamline the maintenance process and minimize customer disputes by obtaining accurate information for billing.

Solution: Track equipment usage and fuel consumed to be able to charge appropriately. Plus, schedule and report on maintenance services and repairs.

Result: With telematics data, the rental company can precisely track equipment usage for more accurate billing and transparency to customers. Armed with objective data, customer service representatives are better able to respond and resolve arguments over-usage.

Now, the rental provider can look into offering flexible billing options, such as billing by hours used or a combination of time on rent plus hours used. By tracking hourly usage instead of by the day, the provider can set time limits and initiate overtime billing.

Active diagnostic faults and other engine-derived information is used to prioritize vehicles in need of maintenance. The service team can schedule preventative maintenance when it’s convenient to the customers and the rental branch. As well, instant alerts when faults occur help speed response and minimize the downtime window.

3. OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers)

Adding a tracking device to a new vehicle or piece of equipment before it is sold to the customer has pre-sales and post-sales benefits. With consent, the tracking device data from the manufacturer can be integrated into the fleet management platform via API exchange.

Challenge: Gather additional feedback for product development and support customer service.

Solution: Install a tracking device connection in new vehicles at the factory.

Result: Having the ability to track vehicle performance data post-launch provides valuable insight for continuous improvement and product design. In production, tracking device data is consulted for quality, so issues can be resolved at the factory before they become greater problems out in the field. Improving quality reduces recall and rework, which can help provide cost savings.

Improved root cause analysis, product monitoring and alerts, allows the OEM to provide enhanced support to distributors and customers alike. Having this data also allows for more accurate warranty coverage. The OEM will have the knowledge and hard data to make warranty decisions.