Just ask Fleet Intelligence
BY NICK FORTUNA
When customers ask Craig Haddox when a piece of construction equipment will arrive at a jobsite, he never has to give them his best guess or provide a six-hour window like the local cable company might.
Instead, Haddox, director of service, parts and warranty for Sunstate Equipment, a member of multiple AGC chapters, can tell that customer exactly where the equipment is located and when it’s scheduled to arrive. That’s because Phoenix-based Sunstate, a major supplier of rental equipment to the construction industry, with locations in 16 states, has implemented Fleet Intelligence as its equipment management platform.
Fleet Intelligence, developed by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Foresight Intelligence, is the industry’s first such platform powered by artificial intelligence and featuring voice-enabled technology. It allows construction companies, equipment manufacturers, dealers and rental companies to better manage their assets, optimize utilization, reduce costs and improve project outcomes.
Fleet Intelligence aggregates equipment data such as location, usage, maintenance and inspection details and displays that information in a clear, actionable format. Having all that data readily accessible makes it easier for Sunstate Equipment to serve customers and arm field service technicians with the information they need, Haddox said.
“The aggregation of that data is absolutely key,” he said. “We have equipment from so many different manufacturers, and Fleet Intelligence has made the aggregation of that data very seamless for us. It’s all in one place.”
Fleet Intelligence makes it easy for companies to track trouble codes from equipment, so service technicians can arrive with the right parts in hand instead of diagnosing the problem on the first trip and coming back a second time to make repairs.
Similarly, Fleet Intelligence can help companies become more efficient when it comes to preventative maintenance and ordering replacement parts. Companies can look for subtle changes in the performance data of equipment that indicate wear and tear and then take action, before equipment breaks down and repairs become more costly.
“On any jobsite, maximizing uptime is critical,” Haddox said.
“If I can send the technician out only one time to do a repair, that means I’m saving money and taking better care of my customers. We try to respond to every service call within two hours, which is a pretty high standard to achieve, and Fleet Intelligence is helping us to do that.”
The platform enables companies to track hundreds of data points, including fuel usage, fluid levels, interior air temperature and tire pressure, to name just a few, according to Dale Hanna, CEO of Foresight Intelligence.
Using Fleet Intelligence, companies can locate equipment across vast jobsites instantly and can discourage theft. Equipment managers can establish geofences, limiting the area where equipment should be and receive digital notifications whenever equipment strays from that area.
“When telematics were first introduced, it was all about tracking the location of equipment,” Hanna said. “Now, the sophistication of the technology is amazing, and we can collect hundreds of data points per machine. That increases every year as manufacturers put out new machines, so that’s why we’re so excited for the future. With more data available, we can help the industry become more efficient.”
By tracking equipment usage through Fleet Intelligence, companies can ensure they have the right amount of equipment for the job. On large jobsites where multiple crafts are working at once, companies might think they need more bulldozers, excavators or trucks than they really do, which drives up rental costs or prevents them from allocating their equipment to other projects.
“The gains in productivity are just incredible, both from a rental-company perspective and what we can do to assist the customer in managing their equipment,” Haddox said. “Granted, it’s only a small percentage of the overall cost of a project, but it gets an enormous amount of attention, and putting that information in front of the decision makers on these projects really makes them much more effective.”
Tracking fuel usage through Fleet Intelligence simplifies the task of calculating a project’s carbon footprint, a key feature as more customers are demanding that data, Haddox said. New voice-enabled features empower construction workers to use Fleet Intelligence without any training, Hanna said. With a smartphone or tablet, workers can simply press a button, ask the platform for information about a piece of equipment and receive the correct answer immediately. Users can interact with Fleet Intelligence in English or Spanish, with additional languages such as Portuguese and French on the way, Hanna said.
“The construction industry continues to face an extreme labor shortage worldwide, and Fleet Intelligence helps our customers manage more equipment with fewer people,” Hanna said. “We’re taking those productivity gains to an even higher level with the introduction of our voice-enabled, multi-language capabilities, which will increase the effectiveness of every team member.”
Hanna said Foresight Intelligence is investing heavily in AI, which will allow Fleet Intelligence to offer upgraded features in the future.
“The amount of data is multiplying, but to make the data useful, you have to keep it clean and connected, so that’s what we have been focusing on since Day 1,” Hanna said. “We believe AI is going to be a game changer, and the technology is moving really fast.”