Runaway bulldozer? Telogis have an app for that
Oct
If you own construction equipment you don’t want it getting into the wrong hands. The construction manager of a building site in England had a rude shock to find his JCB bulldozer had gone missing. Turns out it was in the hands of a madman, who had stolen the bulldozer from the constructin site and was rampaging through the village, using the bulldozer as a “ram rod”, destroying gravestones in the local cemetery.
The news report stated that the man was eventually apprehended after causing approximately £15,000 (USD$23,378) worth of damage, and significant damage to the bulldozer, which had been driven at speeds of up to 20MPH, dangerously fast for this type of vehicle.
The incident is a stark reminder to owners of construction equipment, or any asset left at a building site, that they are often an easy and appealing target for thieves or vandals. It can be a major headache for construction companies that can face increased insurance premiums, the cost of equipment repair or replacement and public liability claims.
Protecting building sites a challenge
It’s not easy for building site managers to protect their on-site equipment from unauthorized use. Construction sites are often remote, have easy access and are generally unmonitored after-hours. The vehicles are not always fitted with high-tech security or anti-theft devices, lowering the barrier for opportunistic criminals to wreak havoc with your gear.
And, for some errant types, like the one mentioned earlier or even a James Bond wannabe, the sheer thrill of tearing up the road in a piece of heavy equipment is just too much of a temptation to ignore.
Construction managers are fighting back with the help of Telogis fleet management software. Tired of rising insurance premiums and costly downtime caused by repeated incidents of vandalism and theft, construction fleet owners are fitting their high-value assets with GPS tracking devices.
How do these tracking devices work to protect construction equipment? What benefits do they offer and is it improving ROI in the construction industry?
GPS tracking making construction firms more profitable
While there is an initial cost for setting up GPS tracking, it is soon outweighed by the benefits provided to fleet managers. In fact, most fleets experience a positive ROI within 120 days of implementing a telematics solution.
Aside from the financial benefits, fleet managers are also switching on to telematics for the peace of mind it provides, knowing GPS tracking is monitoring their equipment around the clock, seven days a week.
Telogis telematics improves the bottom line for construction fleets in several ways.
- Work site compliance – Efficiently comply with restricted access areas, noise ordinances and hours of operation. Easily monitor start and stop times, worker activity or equipment use and receive instant alerts for any exceptions.
- Increased productivity – Crews are often more productive when supervisors are on-site. With Telogis you can monitor how much time supervisors are spending at the work site, as well as keeping an eye on excessive congregating.
- Improved asset security – Monitor unauthorized use in real-time, regardless of where or when it happens. It doesn’t matter whether your equipment is old or new, non-powered or even outside the cellular network, asset tracking can prevent misuse and, in the event of theft, assets can be recovered faster, saving you downtime and insurance costs.
There are plenty of benefits for construction firms to be running Telogis telematics, and if the owner of the building site mentioned at the start had been using it, thousands of dollars worth of damage could have been prevented, not to mention the endangerment to public safety.
Don’t wait until after someone goes crazy with one of your bulldozers before you take action. Find out more about Telogis Fleet today!
November 25th, 2011 at 5:17 am
The incident is a stark reminder to owners of construction equipment, or any asset left at a building site, that they are often an easy and appealing target for thieves or vandals. It can be a major headache for construction companies that can face increased insurance premiums, the cost of equipment repair or replacement and public liability claims. Jammerall.com