Construction fleets are usually mixed fleets
A normal fleet tracking deployment may involve road vehicles with permanent power, while the same business also needs to monitor plant or assets that sit unused for days or weeks. Treating every asset as though it were a van usually leads to the wrong hardware choice.
Track service vans and site vehicles
Road-going vehicles can use standard fleet-tracking functions such as live locations, journey history, geofences, out-of-hours activity and driver behaviour information where supported.
This can help supervisors understand which vehicles are at which jobs, review travel between sites and answer customer or project queries using actual journey records.
Plant and machinery need a different approach
Plant may be permanently powered, intermittently powered or completely unpowered while parked. Reporting frequency and battery life therefore become important when choosing the tracker.
Trackmatic supports GPS plant and machinery tracking for applications where standard road-vehicle hardware may not be appropriate.
Use geofences around sites, yards and depots
A geofence is a virtual boundary around a location. For construction operations it can be useful around a depot, long-term site or storage yard. Depending on the tracker and configuration, alerts can help identify when tracked equipment enters or leaves a defined area.
Movement alerts can improve asset awareness
Unexpected movement does not always mean theft, but knowing that a tracked asset has moved can help the business investigate quickly. This can be especially useful for equipment expected to remain at a site outside working hours.
Tracking can help answer practical site questions
Construction tracking is often most valuable when it answers routine operational questions:
- Which vehicle is closest to a site?
- When did an engineer or crew arrive?
- Where was a vehicle earlier in the day?
- Has a piece of plant left the yard?
- Which site currently has a particular mobile asset?
- How long has equipment been deployed at a location?
Consider connectivity as well as GPS
The tracker needs mobile connectivity to send its information to the platform. For vehicles and assets moving between sites and coverage areas, multi-network IoT connectivity can provide additional flexibility.
Trackmatic can provide multi-network connectivity options for suitable tracking deployments.
Powered and battery-powered asset trackers
The reporting pattern of an internal-battery tracker needs to be balanced against battery life. A device reporting very frequently will normally consume more power than one configured for less frequent updates. The right configuration depends on what the business genuinely needs to know.
Hazardous environments require specialist assessment
Some industrial or construction environments may have hazardous-area requirements. Standard tracking hardware should not be assumed to be suitable. Where an ATEX or hazardous-area requirement exists, the exact equipment certification must be checked against the application.
See our ATEX and hazardous-area tracking information.
One platform, different asset types
The goal should be to give managers useful visibility without forcing every asset into the same hardware specification. Road vehicles, powered plant and battery-operated assets can require different devices while still forming part of the wider tracking strategy.
Need tracking across vehicles and plant?
Tell Trackmatic what you operate and which assets have permanent power. We can recommend the appropriate tracking approach for each category.
View Tracking Products Request a Quote