Managing a construction fleet comes with a multitude of challenges, from scheduling equipment deliveries to overseeing fuel usage; it can be a constant juggling act. As companies continue to search for ways to improve workflow and stay competitive, fleet management solutions are answering the call. But with so many fleet management solutions on the market, which one will best serve a company’s needs today, tomorrow and 10 years from now?
Done right, fleet management should dramatically improve workflow and the ability to make real-time decisions when quick changes need to be made. There are many products available that focus primarily on one aspect of fleet management, but to maintain a competitive edge, it is important to understand what a comprehensive fleet management solution looks like.
In December 2017, the federal government implemented a mandate around electronic logging devices and driver vehicle inspection reporting. For contractors operating a fleet of heavy duty trucks, it is likely that the mandate will affect its construction operation. It’s a good idea to do homework now to make sure the company’s fleet management approach includes implementing a certified electronic logging device solution.
Timing is everything on a construction site. Coordinating the timing of concrete trucks for a big pour, or site delivery of a large machine and dispatching service vehicles, takes dedicated personnel who are often managing ten other timely tasks. Fleet management provides real-time visibility into vehicle location, status and diagnostics to enable intelligent business decisions quickly and efficiently.
Organizations shift and change, and technology should adapt to those changes. The beauty of some fleet management solutions is the ability to scale for complete management of an enterprise fleet, a small number of vehicles or even a contractor workforce.
Real-time alerts are a key fleet management feature that allow companies the ability to manage other tasks and only be alerted of issues that might need immediate attention.
The most important assets for a construction company are the people who perform work and the equipment used to produce output. Vehicle telematics help a company manage the movement of people, equipment and materials. Ensuring that people and material are at the right place, at the right time is important from not only a workflow perspective but also to help improve the safety of workers by ensuring the correct number of team members are on site for certain tasks.
Through a fleet management solution, construction organizations have the ability to monitor driver behavior to improve fuel waste and driver safety. Aggressive driving, excessive acceleration and harsh braking lead to increased fuel usage and increased risk of accidents. The information collected on driver behavior can be used to help educate and change dangerous and unnecessary trends and drive behaviors.
Telematics plays a vital role in the successful delivery of time-sensitive products, like concrete. Managers coordinating a concrete pour can see exactly when the site is ready for concrete, when the trucks arrive, where the concrete truck is in the process, when to queue the next truck and when they are finished. This can all be done by monitoring the movement of trucks and materials in real time.
Having the means to understand when planned maintenance should be scheduled, based on the actual usage of an asset, can help keep equipment running reliably and mitigates the risk of unplanned outages, which are a major source of delays. Adopting a preventive and predictive approach to service and maintenance, as opposed to a break/ fix service structure, maximizes the long term usage. Regularly scheduled vehicle maintenance notifications help construction companies stay on top of caring for their vehicle fleet to reduce the likelihood of a need for vehicle repair in the middle of a project.
In the event of an asset breaking down, real-time intelligence enables businesses to retrieve it for service and implement an available asset to minimize downtime. Identifying the nearest service technician to a broken down asset therefore becomes a simple task, which can improve response time considerably.
Live map technology provides enhanced route planning that can reduce time and fuel costs by providing accurate routing based on traffic, road conditions and roadways that are restricted to certain construction vehicles. Fleet management solutions allow for managers to view their fleets in real-time on their desktop to make immediate, informed routing decisions. Truck-specific, turn by turn navigation capability ensures that drivers are routed efficiently based on the type of vehicle they are operating.
Data drives more informed decisions. When data is being collected from each vehicle and piece of equipment in a construction fleet, it gets difficult to manage. The challenge most construction companies face is the lack of a central hub to collect and analyze data to make intelligent decisions that influence a company’s operations and bottom line. Fleet Management solutions are designed to monitor vehicle location, speed, idle time and load information, in addition to equipment location and utilization.
The primary goal of data collection is to use that information to make informed decisions, but all too often, the data exists in disparate software interfaces and systems. A handful of hardware and software companies recognize the struggle construction companies face to find a “one-stop” solution that not only provides useful tools to improve workflow, but also provides a central hub for data collection using the AEMP standard for exchanging telematics data. Collecting data is great, but it’s only a benefit if the information can be leveraged to make business decisions. The core fleet management solution should be the central data hub to successfully integrate data from all other sources.
Fleet Management solutions empower managers, dispatchers and drivers to improve efficiency and effectively manage construction projects from beginning to end. Regardless of operation size, fleet management solutions can be scaled to meet the needs of each unique situation.
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