Earthwave has integrated their e-ticketing functionality with OnStation to allow users to pinpoint the exact Station Location where each load of asphalt is placed on a jobsite. This new functionality automatically tracks the load from the time it is loaded at the asphalt plant, through its dumping into the paver on the jobsite. The exact Station location becomes a part of the digital e-ticket, with no operator intervention required. Operators and transportation agency officials can know precisely on a jobsite where a specific load of asphalt was laid, so that if a future problem arises, they can investigate other parameters around that location, including core tests, density, drainage, or others, to determine the scope of the problem. Specific station locations on each e-ticket replace the latitude/longitude indications which are commonly included now, but which are not readily referenceable on the jobsite. 

If you've ever felt like you're juggling too many projects at once, you're not alone. Chris Higgins, the Vice President of Engineering and Construction at Scotty's Contracting & Stone can emphasize. He wakes up every day with 400 pieces of heavy equipment to allocate across projects throughout Kentucky. On a good day it's a challenge. On a rainy day it's fire drill. But Higgins is prepared, thanks to a telematics tool that collects and displays data across his entire fleet, bridging the gaps between a dozen different equipment manufacturers. 

Getting over growing pains 

Scotty's Contracting & Stone is a heavy civil and paving contractor that has served a geographic footprint that ranges from Louisville to Nashville for 50 years. In that time the company has grown from 10 employees to over 600, dispatching more than 100 trucks a day through their 14 asphalt plants and 5 stone quarries. Third party trucks are supplied with FleetWatcher as well, so that all haul trucks have the same visibility. Visibility into the entire haul fleet allows Scotty's to see bottlenecks in real time and re-route trucks around them to shorten cycle times.

Earthwave Technologies, Indianapolis, offers the FleetWatcher telematics platform to monitor four key safe driver metrics, allowing companies to track and amend driver behavior. This GPS-based platform captures vehicle data from either the FleetWatcher App or from an in-vehicle device. It simplifies safe driver programs by focusing on four key metrics: 

• vehicle speed relative to posted speed limits; 
• fast starts;
• hard breaking; and
• hard turns.

This data is reported continuously and can be used to assign a numeric or letter grade to drivers, who can then be commended or counseled for their performance. Whether required by insurance carriers or as company policy, FleetWatcher customers using this feature have reported significantly improved driver grades when this is added to their safe driver programming.

FleetWatcher's Escalating Idle Alert informs managers when equipment has been idling for too long, allowing immediate corrective action to be taken. This can help slash idle time, and thus elongate equipment life span.

• FleetWatcher monitors rpm over time, and alerts managers with text or email when a pre-set threshold has been reached
• The parameters and alerting structure are completely customizable by the user
• Data can be integrated with other business systems such as accounting, estimating
• Tracks multiple data points including cycle times, productivity and downtime, equipment utilization and underutilization, exact location of each piece of equipment, project status, budgets, shop costs, rental expenses, and trends and behaviors 

Onboarding of Earthwave Technologies popular FleetWatcher telematics platform is fast and easy since it captures data from OEM telematics systems with no additional hardware required.

Data from each piece of equipment within the fleet, regardless of manufacturer, class, or size, is seamlessly integrated into the FleetWatcher platform, with no labor costs.  With a clear view of all fleetwide assets, managers can better allocate equipment to enhance utilization, slash idle times to save fuel and equipment value, streamline maintenance, and more.

Earthwave’s Construction Management Solution was developed specifically for the “yellow iron” heavy construction industry and is ideal for off-road construction projects of all sizes and types.

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.

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!