In the fast-paced world of trucking, the location of your trailer or equipment can change in an instant, and without suitable communication and tracking, you’re at risk for delayed delivery or improperly assigning loads. Thanks to GPS and fleet management technology, asset tracking is much more streamlined. Fleets using asset tracking software are privy to advanced planning, cost management and security solutions.
What are asset trackers for fleet management?
Asset trackers are designed to be lightweight, to withstand inclement weather and road conditions, and to upload frequent data points via GPS. Accurate, consistent data with near real-time reporting empowers dispatch to provide useful information on the whereabouts of trailers and equipment.
Asset tracking is a vital part of fleet management, but knowing the location of your vehicles is only part of the job. Understanding inventory, utilization, and maintenance will help ensure efficiency across the business.
1. Accurate asset tracking increases utilization
Whether en route, in the yard or in detention, with proper tracking you’ll always know where your trailers are and have reports that prove it. Tracking assets makes it easy to review usage. Some trailers are used more often than other and many fleets operate far more trailers than tractors. Asset tracking not only ensures timely maintenance, but can help spread out workloads, avoiding overuse of certain trailers as others just collect dust in the yard. With visibility of all your assets you’ll be able to see which equipment is being utilized and redirect assets to job sites where they can be used.
Understanding the utilization and asset usage can also support billing. By using geofences, time on location and notifications of arrival and departure, you can also support billing for asset usage and avoid any discrepancies.
2. Reduce theft and protect equipment
Missing assets are among the leading preventable costs in the trucking industry. Asset tracking can help prevent theft and loss of equipment. When theft or damage is investigated, it can take time to sort through the uncertainty.
Using accurate GPS, a tracker can show with pinpoint precision where your assets are in near real-time. By using the accompanying back-office software, you’ll be able to monitor unusual movement or theft. Which means quicker recovery of assets.
As thieves get smarter, it’s important to consider the look of the tracker itself. A sleek, discreet design and small size will make it easy to place on any asset inconspicuously.
3. Prevent equipment hoarding
Stop wasting money on idle equipment. Equipment hoarding has become a common practice on today’s job sites. Sometimes it’s accidental, but sometimes it’s very intentional. It can be tempting to keep a piece of equipment onsite for a “just in case” situation, but if that equipment isn’t working for you, it’s losing money. Asset tracking allows you visibility of all your assets, so you can optimize workflows and make sure valuable equipment is being put to use.
4. Better maintenance with reliable asset tracking
Using asset trackers can improve asset performance and longevity, and thus reduce costs for repairs. If your solution captures both miles traveled and engine hours, you’ll have a better understanding of the actual usage of both trailers and equipment. With this information at your fingertips you can improve preventative maintenance scheduling to reduce breakdowns and maximize asset productivity.
Asset trackers keep operations streamlined
With the right tools you can streamline your entire asset tracking and fleet management operation. You’ll never ask “where’d we leave that piece of equipment?” again. EROAD allows you to view all EROAD ELDs and EROAD Asset Trackers on the same map, making it easy to manage your fleet from a single dashboard. The EROAD Asset Tracker offers 4G connectivity in an IP66 weatherproof enclosure for rugged and reliable use with trailers and other powered assets.
Learn more about how you can simplify fleet management with EROAD Asset Tracker.
