Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/652983
EquipmentWorld.com | March 2016 53 T elematics data is a lot like a map to buried treasure. The informa- tion does you no good unless you act on it. The gold is there. But, if you don't pick up a shovel and start digging, you're never going to fi nd it. In the February issue of Equip- ment World, we looked at some of the things you can do with three different types of telematics data: location, run time/utilization and fuel burn data. This month, we'll look at idle time, driver monitoring and diagnostic codes. Keep in mind that if you're run- ning equipment that's three years old or newer from most of the major OEMs, you can probably get this telematics data for free from their websites. If your equipment is older, or if the OEM website route doesn't fi t your needs, you can also wire up almost any machine with third-party telematics products from a wide variety of vendors. Idle time How would you like to cut your diesel fuel bill by 10, 20 or even 30 percent? A lot of smart contractors are saving money by using telemat- ics data to fi nd excessive idle time. This is probably the most widely used data set in the heavy equipment telematics fi eld for one simple reason: Accurate measure- ments of machine idle time are saving small earthmoving compa- nies tens (or hundreds) of thou- sands of dollars. Big companies are saving millions. There is no good reason to keep modern diesel engines idling more than a few minutes at a time. By tracking idle time by machine, truck or operator, you can quickly see who is wasting fuel versus who is diligent about saving the company money. When you fi nd excessive idle time, you can use that information to see if the job is structured wrong or to show operators and drivers how wasteful the practice is. telematics by Tom Jackson and Dan Samford TELEMATICS 101 (part 2) HOW TO USE THE DATA Reduce your fuel bill and improve driver safety. ? ? ?