They say that the devil is in the details. For a company that has been around since 1923 and employs more than 700 employees, E.R. Snell Contractor Inc. has a lot of details to deal with every day.

The family-operated company based in Atlanta, Ga., performs a variety of transportation construction jobs from Augusta to Macon and northern Georgia including roadway work, structural bridge work and asphalt paving and sales. On any given summer day, E.R. Snell is dispatching 150 to 200 asphalt trucks, a vast majority of which are third party truckers.

In handling their daily trucking, Executive Vice President Jared Snell knew there had to be a better way to manage the mountain of details that impact his company’s operations. Thankfully, he was right, and in an innovative telematics platform, they found a way to handle the details and exorcise their demons.

Earthwave Technologies has featured a pair of fleet maintenance tools in its FleetWatcher portfolio during World of Concrete 2022: Construction Management Solution (CMS) and Escalating Idle Alert. These features aid in improving efficiency through data collection and analysis.

Construction Management Solution

FleetWatcher's popular Construction Management Solution (CMS) collects data from all construction equipment assets, regardless of class or manufacturer, and presents the maintenance due report with color coded entries providing "at a glance" status. Built specifically for the heavy equipment industry, this unique telematics platform shows equipment that is within 36 hours of its required maintenance in yellow, and any equipment at or past its maintenance due date in red. This allows fleet maintenance managers to better schedule in-shop personnel and service trucks in the field. Unlike OEM telematics which require separate logins for each brand, and present information differently, FleetWatcher works across all fleet equipment with a single login and presents the data in an easily understood format which can be shared with all applicable personnel via cell phone, tablet, or computer. FleetWatcher CMS is ideal for heavy construction contractors of all types and sizes.

The FleetWatcher Construction Management Solution (CMS) collects data from all equipment assets regardless of class or manufacturer, and presents the maintenance due report with color-coded entries for "at glance" status. 

• Shows equipment within 36 hours of required maintenance in yellow and any at or past due date in red
• Works across entire fleet with a single login and data can be shared via cell phone, tablet or computer
• Escalating Idle Alert proactively informs managers when equipment has been idling for too long
• Suitable for heavy construction contractors of all types and sizes 
• Collects specific and customized data delivered through a Daily Snapshot in the specific format users select
• Reports available online or in MS Excel format with over 20 reports and hundreds of filtering options available 
• Also tracks multiple data points including cycle times, productivity and downtimes, equipment utilization and under utilization, project status, budgets, shop costs, rental expenses, trends and behaviors and more 
• Integrates with all major management programs including accounting, estimating, invoicing and more
  

Before signing on with FleetWatcher, the team at Jon M. Hall was looking to reduce idle time and increase production. They knew a telematics software would help them improve operations but there was a concern that learning how to navigate a new system would be time-consuming and difficult to implement. 

A breadcrumb feature shows the machine’s location activity in real-time and every minute if the machine is being towed, and the info is available from a browser or a mobile device.

FleetWatcher, a telematics platform from Earthwave Technologies, includes features to prevent theft and aid in equipment recovery. Its GPS technology allows users to see where any piece of equipment is at any given time, while an included proactive unauthorized use feature alerts user if equipment is started after hours.

Telematics has become increasingly popular within the heavy equipment industry, with virtually all manufacturers offering their own version. OEM telematics typically gather data such as engine temperature, rpm, fuel, pressures and fault codes. The data is available through a login unique to that brand of machinery, thus requiring the owner to log in separately for each brand of equipment owned. 

Equipment and operator idle time is a major problem in the construction industry. Industry research indicates that off-road assets average an hour of excessive idle per machine per day, at a cost of roughly $50 per hour (including fuel, services and depreciation). Aggregate that across a fleet and the numbers are staggering.

K-Five Construction has been a long-time customer of FleetWatcher. The Illinois-based paving company decided to integrate with software back in 2015 when they were looking for an efficient way to manage their fleet in real-time. The K-five team has since been able to easily monitor the delivery of materials to and from job sites and ensure that the company’s production runs as smoothly as possible.

Electronic Ticketing (e-Ticketing) solutions are growing increasingly common among construction companies and transportation agencies around the country. These paperless ticketing systems provide a means to track materials and tonnage verification while also preventing worksite hazards and lost tickets. 

When Robert Turner, fleet operations manager at RIPA & Associates, started using a telematics system in 2012, Caterpillar told him their tracks would last 4,000 hours. Apparently, that was total machine hours, running and idle—because the system quickly revealed that the average track was lasting 2,300 to 2,800 hours of run time.

Although some of that differential can be attributed to the sandier, abrasive soil in Florida, the biggest reason was their elimination of idle time. The stark difference showed Turner the need to plan as a fleet department to keep the tracks running, so that idle time wouldn’t eat away the service life.

A breadcrumb trail shows Turner detailed location information for all machines in the field. Each time the unit updates (variable from 1- to 5-minute intervals), the packet shows the location of the machine and the reason for the packet (engine on, engine running, engine off, etc.). A GeoZone is provided to automatically track the machine’s activity within that GeoZone as well as when it arrives and leaves the GeoZone.

Now, Turner can plan out where machines go, what sites will need them next, and which machines can be leased out to keep their tracks moving and maximize their lifespan. The first year they used this telematics system, Turner estimates the company saved $1.3 million in preventative maintenance, resale value and fuel usage. Decreasing idle time for RIPA’s loaders alone saved them an estimated $400,000 for the year. The company achieved a radical reduction of idle time and a significant increase in overall productivity.

The RIPA team has become proficient in knowing how much gear is needed based on the size of the project, the distance and the type of project. Turner can now see what’s sitting on a jobsite that he knows should be moving and call up the foreman to see what’s going on. Turner put that savings into expanding the fleet, from 150 to over 1,000 transponder-enabled units in the field.

With so much equipment in the field working on projects across the region, Turner needs to be sure that he is giving accurate information to foremen and other contractors. His telematics system matches the machine number to information about that machine, keeping everything accurate and communicating that information to necessary parties.

Operators in the field can track equipment via mobile app, and Turner keeps an eye on things from his office. Checking in on equipment is simple, and Turner can rest easy knowing accurate information is accessible across all of the company’s jobsites. With easy-to-read, accessible information available at the touch of a screen, Turner can tell where every piece of RIPA equipment is in the field, what it’s doing and when it next needs maintenance. Rather than tracking that himself—a menial and laborious task that is prone to error—telematics tracks it all for him, allowing him to do the more advanced job of sending equipment where it’s needed next, and lining up contracts for the next project down the line. That allows Turner to manage his fleet more efficiently, preventing idle time, thwarting thieves and saving costly mistakes.

If you are interested is gaining visibility over your fleet and increasing productivity, schedule a demo with us today!