Construction projects are increasingly running on razor-thin profit margins. Any technological assistance to maintain the project viably should be much appreciated. In this case, using telematics can be beneficial. Telematics devices make construction equipment management easier by allowing site managers to track and monitor their equipment.
Telematics connects vehicles and equipment and provides information about them via telecommunications and informatics technology. It enables various new construction options, such as remote vehicle tracking, geofencing, equipment usage monitoring, and equipment status checks.
These capabilities can help to minimize theft and loss, cut expenses and downtime, and make equipment maintenance easier.
Read on to learn more about telematics and how the construction industry uses it.
What Is Construction Telematics?
The use of telecommunications and information technology in the construction sector to increase construction site efficiency, productivity, and safety is referred to as construction telematics. Construction telematics may help you simplify your day-to-day operations, particularly in the areas of raw materials, vehicles and equipment, safety and compliance, and labor force management.
Getting useful, real-time insights into essential information for you and your organization is a game changer for the construction sector and provides a competitive edge over others that continue to use paper-based methods.
Construction telematics may also extend the life of your equipment and cut expenses by avoiding the need to acquire or rent unneeded construction equipment or deciding when it is more cost-effective to replace older, higher-maintenance equipment with new equipment.
What Are the Technologies of Construction Software?
To collect and send data, integrated construction software employs four major components:
- Location-based services (LBS)
One of the primary goals of construction equipment telematics is to enable equipment owners and site managers to track and locate their equipment in real time. For locating, location-based services (LBS) in current construction telematics solutions employ a mix of the local cellular network and any of the various satellite navigation GNSS systems.
Following GNSS position determination, the tracker uses mobile internet via cellular link to communicate data to a database system that implements the LBS feature and so delivers information to the equipment operator or management.
- Vehicle Telemetry and equipment usage sensors
Reading onboard vehicle telemetry and communicating correct vehicle usage statistics is another primary usage of construction equipment telematics. Detailed telemetry reports for each vehicle or piece of heavy equipment on the job site can be generated using this information.
- Onboard diagnostics systems
Further sensors monitoring equipment health would round out fleet management telematics software. Telematics solutions can interface with onboard diagnostics systems, providing equipment managers with warnings and information about each vehicle and piece of heavy equipment.
Use of Telematics in the Construction Industry
1. It can save time and money
Construction firms must maintain track of their assets. Management has to know where their vehicles are and what they are doing when it comes to on-road and off-road vehicles. They must also stay on top of maintenance and repair obligations to guarantee entire fleet compliance. This may cost the company money in several ways: the cost of repairs, the cost of downtime, and the cost of a vehicle slipping through the net of safety requirements.
Telematics can identify inefficiencies in the business as well as cost-cutting possibilities. For example, understanding driving habits might show large amounts of potential monthly fuel savings. Instead of spending hours assembling information from possibly hundreds of assets, the data is automatically gathered and formatted. Telematics simplifies a lot of aspects of construction management.
2. It helps in asset allocation
Telematics data can show you how much each machine on your active locations is used. You can evaluate if you are providing too much or too little equipment to a project by evaluating telemetry data. Maybe you have a bulldozer that has been sitting dormant at a job site for a long time and might be redeployed somewhere else. On the other hand, maybe you don’t have enough equipment on-site and your operators are overworking your machines to keep the project moving.
Use telematics data to determine where and how often your equipment is utilized. This data can help you determine if you have underutilized assets that you can sell or whether it is time to invest in new equipment. You may minimize equipment rental expenses if you don’t have enough equipment or lower ownership costs if you have too much equipment by altering the size of your fleet to fit your demands.
3. It helps improve security
Every vehicle is now accounted for and tracked thanks to the installation of a telematics system. It enables site managers to maintain an asset inventory as well as an activity record. As a result, any vehicles or machinery in operation will be documented.
Construction managers in the construction sector can also get the assistance of telematics to ensure that their equipment is used efficiently, at the correct time, and by the appropriate person. Thus, this improves a site’s security and avoids asset exploitation.
The platform saves data, which may later be downloaded in the form of a customizable report from the platform. Consequently, if a corporation is a victim of theft or loses track of an asset, the past location and activity data may be reviewed.
4. Fuel Tax Rules Compliance
If you drive commercial vehicles in multiple states or move equipment across state lines between projects, construction telematics can assist you in calculating the fuel tax you must report to the federal government following the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) requirements based on your area of operation.
You will have the location and fuel consumption data you need for your federal fuel tax reporting if you know where your trucks and cars are collecting IFTA miles by jurisdiction, fuel type, and asset utilizing GPS trackers. This is a feature of construction telematics systems that improves the laborious procedures of collecting, evaluating, and accounting for miles traveled by state, area, province, and so on.
You may also be able to use your telematics data for refunds in fuel tax.
Conclusion
Telematics plays a very important role in the construction industry. It is essential for smart, effective construction equipment management, which results in cost savings, increased productivity, and well-optimized work sites. With the above-mentioned uses a construction business can benefit significantly.
FAQs
What are the benefits of telematics in the construction industry?
Listed below are some of the benefits of telematics in the construction industry:
- Protect assets from theft and enhance safety with driver behavior
- Run a compliant and green fleet
- Identify vehicles at any time and monitor the behavior of your employees and fleet
What type of technology is used in telematics?
Telematics, in its broadest definition, is the intersection of two sciences: telecommunications, a field of technology that includes phone lines and cables, and informatics, which includes computer systems. Currently, the phrase is widely used in telematics technologies used in commercial fleet vehicles.
