How to Track Construction Equipment

What is construction equipment tracking technology?  

Construction equipment tracking technology gives your business visibility into the locations of your construction assets and equipment. By leveraging GPS tracking devices with telematics, a construction equipment tracking solution or asset tracking solution gives you the power to view all of your equipment and assets in one place. These systems are often used by construction companies to increase equipment utilization, streamline customer invoicing, and improve maintenance scheduling to avoid breakdowns. 

LEARN MORE: What is Telematics? 

What kinds of equipment can you track with a construction equipment tracking system? 

Depending on your business, you may have different kinds of construction equipment in your fleet. Luckily, construction equipment tracking systems like Samsara can accommodate almost any type of equipment. 

LEARN MORE: 3 Steps to Track Your Construction Equipment 

4 benefits of a construction equipment tracking system 

Whether your fleet has one piece of equipment or thousands, a construction equipment tracking system can help improve the efficiency of your operations. Here are four main benefits: 

1. Prevent construction equipment theft and unauthorized use with geofence alerts 

If your construction business has ever experienced equipment theft, you know how costly it can be to track down or replace lost or stolen construction equipment. With a construction equipment tracking system, your business can easily configure geofence alerts to notify you when a piece of equipment has left a specific location, such as a job site or construction site. 

Samsara customer Blue Lightning Logistics was able to save more than $200,000 by preventing the theft of three pieces of equipment. With the help of Samsara geofence alerts and live GPS tracking, they now have peace of mind knowing where all of their assets are at all times. 

LEARN MORE: GPS Fleet Tracking 

2. Improve equipment utilization 

With a construction equipment tracking system, your business can view equipment utilization across job sites and reallocate underutilized assets before renting or purchasing new equipment. 

For example, ACV Enviro was able to use the Samsara Utilization Report to save more than $30,000 in equipment rental fees. With better insights into their equipment usage, they were able to reallocate assets across their more than 30 locations and eliminate the need for rental equipment. 

3. Reduce downtime and avoid costly breakdowns with maintenance tools 

Unplanned maintenance for construction equipment can quickly become one of the most costly parts of your construction business. With a construction equipment tracking system, you can remotely monitor fault codes and send alerts directly to your technicians in order to repair issues faster and get equipment back to work in less time. 

With Samsara Asset Gateways, maintenance teams are immediately notified of fault codes so they can remotely diagnose issues to reduce downtime and costs. Additionally, technicians can set up automatic maintenance scheduling based on engine hours or usage so your business can catch maintenance issues before they come up. 

LEARN MORE: Your Guide to Maintenance Management 

4. Streamline customer invoicing 

Customer billing can be one of the most time consuming parts of running a construction business. Without an accurate way of tracking time spent on job sites and which equipment was used where, determining how much to bill customers can be a pain. 

With Samsara’s automated Time on Site Reports, you can use geofences and GPS data to provide accurate billing information to customers to reduce billing cycles and improve customer service. 

2 considerations for selecting a construction equipment tracking system 

When evaluating a construction equipment tracking system, it’s important to optimize your investment for the long-term. Here are the two most critical considerations to evaluate in order to make sure your investment will grow with your business:

1. Mobile-first approach

Does the provider have a mobile app for administrators and drivers? Mobile apps are critical for keeping track of assets and equipment on the go. With the Samsara Fleet App, your business can easily manage assets and receive alerts on equipment locations in order to optimize equipment management and improve efficiency.  

2. Connected operations platform 

Is the system you’re considering a part of a broader connected operations platform? Consolidating all of your operational systems into one platform can save your business money and time. 

Samsara’s complete connected operations platform not only has robust equipment tracking solutions but also has AI Dash Cams for vehicle safety and site visibility systems for job site security. 

LEARN MORE: Consolidating Vendors: 4 Benefits of Using a Single Platform 

WATCH: How BRAGG Companies uses Samsara to improve construction equipment management, safety, and customer service 

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Learn more about Samsara’s platform for connected operations 

With the Samsara IoT platform, you can fully connect your operations to improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of your construction business. Telematics-enabled real-time GPS trackers on your equipment and vehicles allow you to gain full visibility into your operations, while intelligent cameras help keep your workers safe on job sites and yards. In addition, Samsara’s site visibility solution helps improve job site security and safety with powerful AI and alerting functionalities. 

Reach out for a free trial today to see how Samsara can transform your operations.   

NEWS: Samsara Introduces Site Visibility