3 Asset Tracking Uses For Better Construction Management

New Zealand’s construction industry is rather familiar with fleet management software. Many of the light vehicle fleet – utes and staff vehicles – have GPS tracking for ensuring speed limits are followed and the assets are accounted for. It’s also a given for heavy vehicles. Yet when it comes to plant equipment, the benefits of asset tracking have not been fully realised. Here’s three ways to use asset tracking to better manage construction sites, reduce mistakes and issues, and ultimately provide a better service to customers.

1. Identify underutilised assets

With Teletrac Navman’s asset tracking system, a business can track the location all of its assets – plant and stationary equipment like lighting towers or digger buckets – and pull information from the machine’s electronics too. This data can then be viewed in an asset management software that builds a picture of the site, so the equipment manager can:

• locate valuable equipment on jobsites
• monitor engine hours and fuel consumption to understand utilisation
• measure machine work versus idle time

With this knowledge, you’ll know when equipment is not being used and could be reallocated to a different jobsite. This will help to reduce unnecessary rentals. You can also establish “internal rental rates” to financially incentivise employees to return equipment promptly.

On larger, well-connected sites, you’ll be able to use the asset and fleet tracking system to start automating parts of the traffic management

2. Clever geofencing

SouthRoads, part of the HW Richardson Group, has been using Teletrac Navman’s geofencing tool to improve site safety and road safety. The company has geofenced large worksites and programmed the on-site speed limit to this area. When a driver enters the worksite, they’ll be alerted via an in-cab device to the lower speed limit.

The same principle works for city-based jobs, where there are restrictions on fleet and asset activity in suburban areas for certain hours. With geofencing and routing, a site manager will be able to set exclusion zones for certain plant at certain hours – and direct the traffic through approved routes. If the zone is breached, the driver and the manager can be alerted so it’s recorded and corrected for the future.

The SouthRoads team has also geofenced infrastructure that could cause transport delays or safety issues such as low-lying or low-weight bridges, low powerlines and driving exclusion zones.

3. Win over council customers with transparency

With taxpayer money paying for services, councils have a lot of pressure to prove that they are delivering services efficiently – and safely. In fact, one of the most common complaints councils receive is ‘my rubbish was not picked up’.

With an asset tracking system, you can track and record the activity of an equipment’s moving mechanics. For example, with a rubbish collection vehicle, you can see whether the arm is lifting up or down; with a vegetation control vehicle, you can see whether the spraying valve is opened or closed; and with a mini-crawler crane, you can see whether the legs are extended or retracted. By pairing this data with the machine’s ignition, you can determine exactly where the vehicle’s operator has collected rubbish, swept, sprayed – or whether the crane had its legs safely retracted whilst driving across the site. A contractor can then provide this in-depth insight to clients for both quality and safety measures.

SouthRoads has even provided a client portal for the Teletrac Navman software, so its clients can check on machine utilisation and maintenance contract work. The General Manager of Contracting, Dean Elder, says that “gaining greater transparency has been a major win, both in the equipment tracking area and for driver safety. Clients really value transparency and innovation.”

Take advantage of tracked assets to better manage sites, improve safety and keep customers happy. Get in touch with our tracking experts to learn about connecting assets to better manage construction sites.