United Rentals, Inc. has surpassed 335,000 pieces of equipment outfitted with telematics technology in its rental fleet. The equipment includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, generators, all-electric trucks, compressors, e-dumpsters, light towers, and more.
"Businesses face ever-increasing pressure to improve productivity and safety on job sites. If they don't have visibility to equipment operating on their sites, they could face cost or schedule overruns, as well as safety risks," says Tony Leopold, senior vice president of strategy and digital at United Rentals. "Telematics technology generates valuable insights for our customers into the condition, utilization, location, and performance of their rented and owned fleets. Our long-standing commitment to using data to improve the customer experience has led to this new milestone of 335,000 telematics-equipped fleet units, enhancing the value delivered by our rental offerings."
Telematics helps create smarter job sites
In a connected world, and on a connected job site, data is the key to working smarter. Telematics data in particular helps optimize fleet strategies and work toward sustainability goals.
Four ways that telematics improves productivity and safety
Equipment uptime
Telematics provides a set of diagnostic information, including critical fluid, fuel and battery levels, meter hours, and other operating parameters. This information can ensure that equipment is ready for daily use, and can also be used to manage longer-cycle performance requirements, including regular preventative maintenance schedules, to keep equipment operating at ideal performance. Real-time alerts such as emergency stop events, power load, and diesel exhaust fluid levels help supervisors identify and respond to potential issues quickly, reducing downtime and keeping projects on track.
Equipment Utilization
Tracking the utilization of equipment on a job site is critical to ensuring that availability is properly balanced with overall project costs. Telematics technology can alert management if a machine is sitting idle for an extended period and incurring needless costs, while visibility into highly utilized assets can help keep workers productive by ensuring equipment is available for use when needed. Benchmarking reports can also provide visibility into how equipment efficiency compares to peers. By aggregating this information on easy-to-use desktop and mobile platforms, telematics provides access to these insights in the office or on the job site.
Worksite safety and security
On large and complex job sites, telematics data is also essential for emerging safety and security technologies. The data can be used to manage access to equipment through Total Control, United Rental's telematics platform, and other telematics platforms. Equipment access can be limited to authorized operators that have the required certifications and training. Location data, coupled with geofence technology and alerts, can help locate equipment quickly to lessen downtime and limit lost or stolen assets.
Sustainability
Telematics-enabled equipment generates data on engine usage, fuel type, and more. This data can be used by worksite management software to evaluate the environmental footprint of the equipment. The insights can inform decision-making, helping management determine the optimal fleet and utilization tradeoffs to decrease overall equipment emissions.
United Rentals' telematics
United Rentals' Total Control is a cloud-based telematics system that provides users with visibility into both rented and owned telematics-enabled equipment, ensuring equipment availability when and where it is needed. The utilization insight provided by Total Control identifies underutilized equipment to help customers improve efficiency and reduce costs.
