Author: Jimmy Song

Heavy equipment tracking is not a new concept. 61% of businesses in the construction industry use heavy equipment management software in their operations.

A recent study from SGC Horizon Research Services summarizes the key uses of heavy equipment GPS tracking systems. Here is a list of some of the must-have applications.

Maintenance Scheduling

77% of heavy equipment tracking users say that scheduling maintenance is a must have application. Heavy equipment is constantly used and must be properly maintained. Breakdowns are not only costly to fix but also interrupts valuable business time and becomes a safety hazard.

Traditional maintenance planning involves checklists and inspections. Unfortunately, employees may neglect or may forget to follow processes. This is where a preventative maintenance tool comes in handy.

Preventative maintenance tools schedule and remind employees of service jobs. Administrators often assign service jobs by scheduling daily inspections or by scheduling services based on engine hours. Preventative maintenance, as a result, extend equipment life and prevents breakdowns.

Tracking Equipment Location

Another 77% of businesses say that tracking their equipment location is a must have application. Equipment theft is costing the construction industry millions and millions of dollars. Thieves target heavy equipment because of their high value and because they are often left unattended after hours.

Businesses are fighting back by protecting their equipment with asset trackers. Asset trackers provide real-time tracking. Some trackers even send alerts if an asset is taken out of a marked zone. As a result, businesses can quickly locate and recover assets.

Managing Hours

Time theft is costly for construction companies. Some employees take advantage of payroll systems. They might leave early, take long breaks, or even skip work. Of course, this is all done while being counted on the payroll clock.

A few years ago, the Toronto District School Board experienced similar problems. An audit of their workers revealed that some employees cheated time. Managers found incidents where some employees did not show up for jobs. There were even times where employees used equipment for their own business, all while claiming work hours. How did the TDSB cut down on time fraud?

Like many businesses, heavy equipment GPS tracking systems were used to cut down on time fraud. GPS systems help verify the payroll process by matching up work hours with equipment use. Managers can quickly catch unauthorized breaks and absences by viewing equipment reports.

Mobile Heavy Equipment Tracking

Heavy equipment tracking is also available as a mobile app. Mobile apps are especially useful when workers are working remotely and need a way to communicate with managers.

Some of the common applications of mobile apps include sending pictures of work orders and tracking work orders. A good example is maintenance apps. Managers can send employees reminders to check equipment on their phones. In turn, employees can comment and send pictures of inspections. This creates a well-documented process of fulfilling work orders.

Sources:
Construction Equipment: Survey of State-of-the-Art Technology in the Construction Industry
The Star: TDSB Cracking Down on Fraud and Waste in Maintenance

What does successful construction fleet management look like? According to the “Fleet Master” award, successful fleet management means excelling in multiple areas. Areas include cost effectiveness, safety, maintenance, and innovation.

The following three companies used construction fleet management systems to improve their performance.

C & C Group

Fleet Management Objective

C & C Group is a leading facility service provider. One of the fleet’s main objectives was to protect drivers from accidents and from false claims. This was inspired by an incident where one of their drivers was involved in an accident. In other incidents, drivers were accused of bad driving habits. These claims, however, were unsupported by evidence.

Successful Fleet Management @ C & C Group Looks Like…

C & C Group used the Geotab tracking system to protect its drivers. The system notified the business if a driver was not wearing their seatbelt. Drivers were also protected from false claims. Instead of relying on stories, concrete evidence was provided by location history reports. This prevented fraudsters from stealing insurance money from safe drivers.

In addition to protecting drivers, the construction fleet management system protected the business’s bottom line. Construction GPS systems can create fuel reports to measure and reduce cost. C & C used this system to create an idling program. The program automatically emailed drivers when they are stopped to remind them to stop idling. This idea saved the business $350 a month and decreased idling by 46%.

Mineral Technologies

Fleet Management Objective

Mineral Technologies is a mining company that uses a mixed fleet of over the road trucks and heavy equipment. One of its main fleet management objectives was to measure productivity. The company needs a real time measurement system to motivate employees and calculate worker compensation.

Successful Fleet Management @ Mineral Technologies Looks Like…

The business implemented Geotab as its new construction fleet management system. The system went hand-in-hand with productivity targets. It created realtime reports for loading times, drop off times, and dumping times then compared it to company standards.

This was beneficial for both managers and employees at Mineral Technologies. The manager saved time by using real time reports instead of manually creating reports. Employees were able able to check their performance on the company TV after their shift.

Red Hawk Fire & Security

Fleet Management Objective

Red Hawk Fire & Security provides safety technology to businesses. The company is divided into several regions. The Northwest region had a very high accident ratio compared to other regions. The region wanted to improve their safety record and researched for a construction fleet management system.

Successful Fleet Management @ Red Hawk Fire & Security Looks Like…

Red Hawk Fire & Security went with the Geotab system. This system significantly improved safety. Geotab reduced accident rates by 80% by measuring risky driving behaviour and helping correct bad driving habits. It also improved seat belt use. The region reduced seatbelt incidents from 250 incidents on the first day to complete elimination after a week.

The system also provided accountability. Red Hawk Fire & Security was unpleasantly surprised after the Geotab system discovered time fraud. Some drivers stole time by leaving the job site early and claiming a full day’s of work. After implementation, management was able to promote honesty at work and reduced time fraud expenses.

Learn more about GPS tracking devices for construction equipment.

Sources:

Construction Equipment: AEMP, Construction Equipment Recognize 2016 Fleet Masters

Geotab: Case Study: C&C Group

Geotab: Case Study: Minerals Technologies

GoFleet: Customer Success Story

Many construction businesses are tackling industry challenges with GPS tracking devices for construction equipment.

Slowdown in productivity, an aging workforce, and complex projects are all examples of industry challenges. The construction industry, after enjoying several decades of expansion, has declined in growth because of these challenges.

Let’s take a look at how these challenges can be tackled with construction GPS tracking.

Low Productivity

Construction companies are experiencing lower margins. From 2016 to 2017, construction gross margins decreased from 23% to 16%. Why are construction companies losing money?

One reason is stagnant labour productivity. Construction workers, compared to other industrial workers, had limited productivity growth over the last 50 years. A big reason is because 63% of labour time is spent on unprofitable tasks such as driving to work sites, taking early breaks, and waiting for work materials.

Solution

Businesses that installed GPS tracking devices for construction equipment are improving their productivity. Project managers are smoothening their day-to-day operations by setting up a tool called “geofencing”.

Geofencing is a powerful construction GPS tracking tool because it allows managers to draw a zone onto a location. Managers can get reports on when vehicles arrive, when vehicles leave, and how long vehicles spend on site.

As a result, projects are more likely to be delivered on time and on budget. Geofences help managers ensure workers are on site during scheduled hours, holds material deliverers accountable, and reduces time sheet fraud.

Labour Skill Drain

The construction industry is facing a decline in workforce skill. 74% of surveyed members in the Associated General Contractors of America feel that there is a crunch in trade skills. What’s causing this shortage?

A big reason is an aging workforce. Traditionalists are mostly gone from the workforce and baby boomers are quickly retiring. By 2020, half of the workforce in the construction industry will be represented by lesser experienced millennials. With a young workforce, there is greater concern for productivity and safety.

Solution

Beyond GPS tracking for construction equipment, employees can also be tracked and protected. Many businesses are protecting lone workers with man down systems.

Man down systems provide a safety net for lone workers. These systems track employees at all times. If an employee gets in an accident, the man down system would detect that an accident occurred. The system then alerts an office supervisor, who can then call for help. This process offsets safety risks from inexperienced workers.

Complex Projects

A lot of construction companies are struggling to keep up with complex projects. Accenture reports that only 30% of construction businesses deliver projects on budget and that only 15% of construction businesses deliver projects on time.

This means that any unplanned events such as equipment breakdown can threaten the success of the project. How can businesses prevent costly breakdowns?

Solution

Improving maintenance is one of the biggest reasons why GPS tracking for construction equipment is used. With maintenance planning, fleets can schedule service based on usage patterns and can receive alerts for engine issues. This lets mechanics fix smaller issues before equipment breaks down and threatens the success of a project.

Sources:
Build Force Canada: Construction & Maintenance Looking Forward
CSI Market: Construction Services Industry Profitability
Digitalist Magazine: Top 4 Challenges Facing the Construction Industry
eSUB Construction Software: Top 5 Issues Facing the Construction Industry in 2017

13 year-old Niriham Shah got it right with back to school preparations – he took initiative and built a school bus tracking system. He created an app and called it “Bus Wiz”. Bus Wiz lets people track the location of school buses. Shah said that he can now plan ahead for when he should be at the bus stop by using the app.

The Back To School Guide

Back to school is around the corner (and for some areas, school is already in session!).

What about school buses? School bus companies also have items on their shopping list. One item might include bus tracking hardware. Let’s take a look at some of the hottest hardware.

School Bus Tracking Systems Shopping List

1) Driver Monitors

Road safety is especially important when there are school buses filled with kids. In a study of Toronto school buses, there were 1557 collisions between 2010 and 2015. Of those collisions, how many collisions were preventable?

80%. 80% of collisions were due to driver error. For this reason, companies are turning to school bus tracking systems to monitor driving behaviours. Driver monitoring lets administrators set driving rules and create reports which can then be used to train drivers with bad driving habits.

Example:
Stafford County Public School uses Geotab GO7 Devices to train its drivers. Whenever a rule is broken, the system issues an audible warning to the driver. This lets drivers correct their behaviour in real-time.

And what do the drivers think? Stafford County’s director of transportation said that drivers initially hated the devices – but since then they have changed their mind and accept the system. They realized that the devices actually protects them from false accusations by creating a driver history report.

2) Location Tracking

“Where is my kid?”

Kids get lost from time to time. Some kids take the wrong bus, some kids get off at the wrong stop, and some buses miss their stop. For this reason, location tracking is next on the shopping list.

Parents can already track buses in real time with most bus tracking hardware. The next step, however, is tracking students in real time. Student tracking, as a result, is now being combined with school bus tracking systems.

A good way to track students is through a log-in portal. Students can log-in by carrying a scannable personal item. The portal then creates a record of boarding and exiting time.

Example:
Several schools in Texas started the “Smart Tag” project. Smart Tags are badges that students can wear. These badges are scanned when the student gets on the school bus. The system then registers that the student has arrived and can send an email to parents and administrators.

Parents commented that Smart Tag provided peace of mind. They can now take comfort in knowing that their kid got on the right school bus.

3) Cameras

What’s the best way to stop bullies? A great tip is for kids to surround themselves with helpful friends.

For a school bus bullying victim, a helpful friend might be a camera system. Camera systems capture everything that happens on the school bus rather than relying on bystanders to tell on a bully.

Example:
Marshall County included cameras as part of their school bus tracking system. The cameras were useful when bullies got caught red-handed and could no longer deny their wrongdoings.

It also stopped bullies on the road. Cameras were used to catch drivers who refused to stop when the school bus was parked at a stop. This improved safety while kids got on and off the bus.

Wishing you all the best for the upcoming 2017/2018 school year,
from all of us at GoFleet!

Sources:
Fox 13: Lakeland Teen Develops Bus-Tracking App
The Star: 1,500 School Bus Crashes Since 2010, but Contractor Info Remains Secret
School Bus Fleet: How Fleet Telematics Tools Help Track, Improve Driver Behavior
Fox Business: Texas Schools Create High-Tech ID Badges to Track Students on Buses
WPSD Local: Administrators Hope Cameras will Improve School Bus Safety for Kids