For years, telematics has been used in the construction industry as a way for contractors to track their equipment on the jobsite. More recently, there’s been growing adoption among rental companies as they see the potential labor and cost savings the technology can bring.
Rental houses can use telematics for theft prevention, identifying machine misuse, catching maintenance issues before they become full-blown problems, and much more. However, it’s important to remember that not all telematics systems are equal. With that in mind, here are six ways advanced telematics can help you better manage your rental fleet and provide the best machines to your customers.
1. Asset tracking for theft deterrence
As a rental owner or manager, it's essential to know the location of your equipment when it’s rented out. With the use of telematics, you can set parameters for where and when the machine will be used. If the machine starts up outside of the predetermined time parameters or travels outside of the geo-fenced area, you’ll be alerted and can remotely track the location of the machine.
In addition, some equipment can be outfitted with anti-theft features that work in connection with telematics, which can disable the engine until you or someone from your rental house can enter a code on the keypad. This helps prevent unauthorized use and potential vandalism to the machine.
2. Access to machine health reports
When you rent out your equipment, there is always the potential for machine misuse — instances where an operator is doing something they shouldn’t such as high-speed shifts on wheel loaders, using the incorrect work modes on excavators, or overuse of differential lock engagement on articulated loaders. With certain telematics systems, owners and fleet managers can get detailed machine health reports that monitor machine misuse. Catching these issues before they arise can help your rental house lower costs and keep your equipment in top condition for future renters.
3. Determining fleet utilization to identify inefficiencies
Some advanced telematics systems monitor machine usage — both across the entire fleet and by individual machines — with regular reports sent to owners. These reports can show you work versus idle percentages by machine type and for individual machines. Idle times can differ significantly by job, so it’s important to review the data on a routine basis. It can help you spot machines that are idling away hours and potentially hurting machine rental values. Telematics can also help you monitor fuel consumption across your rental fleet.
You can also use this data to make sure you have the right mix of rental equipment in-house. Telematics can help you see if certain machines are being underutilized from an hour or work percentage, and this data can help you determine if these rentals should be replaced with other equipment that will be utilized more.
Volvo CE
The data can also help you inform your customers on what rental equipment can be paired well together from a fleet utilization standpoint. Through telematics, you may see machine data that indicates your customers need a different size excavator or wheel loader to be more efficient. Identifying these trends can help you monitor your equipment and provide your customers with quality service that, in turn, helps them be more efficient on the jobsite.
4. Identifying machine hours for proper billing
Telematics data—specifically machine hours—can lead to more accurate billing for actual hours or days used. Analyzing past data can help you better determine how much a specific piece of equipment should cost to rent. By monitoring machine hours, you can better predict costs for your equipment rental as well as satisfy your customers.
5. Monitoring equipment for increased uptime
When your equipment is down, it’s not making your rental house money. However, telematics can help you catch potential issues before they become problems, helping to reduce downtime.
It’s important to distinguish between telematics systems here. Many manufacturers offer telematics systems that only produce fault codes, which indicate there is an issue but typically provide no additional insight. In fact, you may have to look up what the fault code means and then try to decipher what action you should take. In addition, a mid- to large-size rental fleet could get dozens of fault codes each day, but many of those issues may be noncritical issues like low windshield washer fluid. This can lead to overlooking issues and unplanned downtime.
You should consider an advanced telematics service that provides users with actionable alerts instead of just fault codes. For example, Volvo ActiveCare Direct issues case alerts that give a probable cause of the issue, a recommended solution, and the potential consequence of not taking action. If a critical issue occurs, you’ll be notified so you can take immediate action.
Also, telematics can save trips for servicing if a machine experiences an issue. For instance, without telematics, if your customer reports an issue, you may need to send out a service technician to their jobsite or potentially a loaner machine if the issue is one that could take longer to fix. Telematics can provide insight into what is happening with the machine, helping to get the right solution in place for your customers while saving you time and money.
6. Growing options for mixed fleets
With their mixed fleets, rental companies have a growing interest in telematics that integrate an application program interface (API) that allows different software to communicate with each other. That includes the new AEMP 2.0 API that allows companies like Volvo to provide customers and third parties information from our telematics system, which they can then incorporate into their information management systems.
As you can see, telematics has a variety of benefits that can be useful for your rental equipment and operations. It can provide more visibility to your machine locations and provide utilization reports to help you better manage equipment and meet customer demand. There are many types of telematics systems out there, so it’s important to identify which solutions will help your rental fleet be as productive and profitable as possible for not only your rental house but also for your customers.
