Managing employees is hard enough. But when you have to manage construction equipment too… well, at least machines can’t make excuses. And they can’t talk back to you. But if you have equipment that doesn’t have built-in telematics (or you shut it off because you didn’t want to pay for it), then the machine also can’t tell you where it’s been and what it’s been up to. This is what makes GPS tracking for construction equipment a real necessity if you really want to know what’s going on with your equipment. So, how can a construction company track their equipment and not spend a ton of money doing it? Hopefully, this article can help.
Someone once said that “knowledge is power.” And maybe I’ve forgotten most high school history to remember who said that, but I do remember the saying. For example, knowledge is having the right tools, like construction time clock apps and asset trackers, these tools can help contractors have much better insight as to what is happening on the job site, allowing them to manage their assets and maximize both productivity and profits. Who doesn’t want more of those?
Using GPS Tracking for Construction Projects (and More)
Maximizing profits? Oh boy. That’s every business owner’s dream, but to many, it always sounds like a pipedream. However, it can be a lot simpler than you think. Using a GPS time clock, which is often available as a feature on mobile apps for construction such as busybusy, can help you easily and effectively manage what’s happening with the equipment being used on your job site.
A good app with GPS tracking for construction equipment can assist with being able to easily see who has operated any equipment on your job site, when they used it, where they used it, and for how long they used it. Yes, an app should be able to do all those things because if you are missing any of them, you don’t have the full picture. Additionally, with the GPS tracking that’s a part of the management app, you will also be able to see equipment reports for each project.
This gives you real-time data about how many hours your construction equipment is spending on the job and the amount of employee time being used operating equipment. Which brings us to our next point – how all of this information can be used to calculate the revenue your equipment is bringing in and how you could begin saving more money.
How a GPS Time Clock Can Help You Manage Your Construction Equipment
When you’re able to identify possible areas where time is being misspent, you can figure out many ways to save time, potentially allowing you to save fuel costs, equipment rentals and repairs, and more. But before you can do anything, you need to be able to identify how much you’re currently spending with each piece of equipment using your GPS time clock.
At the outset, you can sit down and begin calculating your monthly expenditures for any piece of equipment – rental costs or payments you may be making. Add on any repairs you’ve needed to make. Look at fuel costs. Meanwhile, remember that someone has needed to operate that equipment. Getting your employees to clock in when they start and stop using a piece of equipment with a contractor app ensures you always know how much time they’re spending with it, so you can calculate that into the cost of operating a piece of equipment. Remember, your largest variable cost is the payroll for the operators running your equipment so track them and tie the operator to the machine hours so you start to really see how to improve profitability.
Is GPS Tracking for Construction Equipment Really Useful?
So what all this boils down to is one question – is GPS tracking for construction equipment really useful? Another way to say it is, is it worth the effort because it will help me make more money? For pretty much any contractor, the answer is a solid yes, especially when it’s included as a feature with a contractor app you can use for timekeeping. It’s easier than ever to make use of a GPS time clock app to help identify how many hours a piece of equipment was used on each project and how that factors into whether or not it’s important enough to continue using that operator on that piece of equipment on future projects.
With the busybusy equipment app, you can easily use each employee clocking in and out to get GPS updates on equipment. If you have newer CAT equipment, you can also connect to VisionLink. Combine the GPS time clock that is the busybusy time tracking app, an alternative to paper time cards, with your business and you will make more money. busybusy gives you instant access to a broad range of important information about your equipment helping you further stand out because you know your numbers better than all the competition.
If you would like to learn more about GPS tracking for construction equipment and how it can be a valuable asset on your next construction project, contact us here to schedule a demo today!
