When it comes to construction fleet maintenance, being proactive is the name of the game. Addressing maintenance needs early and factually can prevent expensive downtime.
Here, we’ll suggest features to look for in construction fleet maintenance software — features that are essential for maximizing utilization in your mixed fleet.
1. OEM integrations
Your construction fleet maintenance software should include original equipment manufacturer (OEM) integrations to your machines, such as John Deere, Caterpillar, Komatsu, and Volvo. This allows you to centralize management of these various manufacturers into a single view.
As soon as the software’s hardware is integrated with your machines, you can start reviewing data such as location, usage, or speed. Managers can immediately adjust operations as needed to provide the best service to customers.
2. Fault code detection
Fault code detection is essential for a proactive maintenance strategy. This feature surfaces malfunction data and categorizes the severity, allowing you to prioritize repairs and quickly get vehicles and equipment back to work. This crucial, early identification helps prevent small problems from escalating into expensive breakdowns and vehicle downtime.
In Motive, when a fault code comes up on a vehicle, Motive’s computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) integrations automatically transmit that code to your CMMS. You can prioritize the issue if it’s severe, mark the vehicle as out of service, and check off when a fix is completed in the system.
If you’re taking your vehicle in for a service and you’re letting them know ahead of time what the fault codes are, then that limits the downtime. Because they already have the parts on hand. Motive’s preventative maintenance has reduced our average vehicle downtime from two days to one day, very easily.
3. Customizable inspection forms
Daily inspections are key to a preventative fleet maintenance strategy. Look for construction fleet maintenance software that provides you with customizable and digital inspection forms. This way, you can be sure that any vehicle or equipment is ready and operational for the next job.
Your construction fleet can rely on the Motive mobile app on a phone or tablet to complete digital vehicle inspections. When your crew member submits a vehicle inspection, all defects become open items in your fleet dashboard. This data flow ensures you understand repair needs the moment they arise, enabling proactivity.
With Motive, you can maintain your existing work order setup. Our open architecture lets you integrate with the industry’s best work order management systems.
See how a large logistics and transportation provider uses Motive to maximize utilization.
4. Usage insights
Construction fleet maintenance software should connect to your vehicles and equipment to provide you with usage insights — such as engine hours, location, and distance traveled. You can use this data to customize a maintenance schedule specific to your fleet’s needs.
With Motive, you can create vehicle maintenance schedules directly in the Motive Dashboard to limit the need for more expensive maintenance down the line.
5. Automated maintenance reminders
Once you’ve created your data-based maintenance schedule, set up automated alerts to remind you about service needs. Automated reminders reduce your manual work and ensure that vehicles and assets are serviced on time.
Motive’s automated maintenance features remind you to service your construction fleet at a frequency you choose: by time, distance, or engine hours. These schedules carry over for the different groupings and categorizations you create for the vehicles and equipment in your mixed fleet.
6. Driving behavior insights
Construction fleet maintenance software with telematics data can help you identify driving patterns that are leading to higher maintenance costs. For example, consistent harsh braking, rapid acceleration, or excessive idling can cause more wear and tear on brakes, tires, and engines. Before using Motive, Staker Parson spent about $2 million on equipment repair costs because of driving behaviors like harsh braking and harsh acceleration.
Once Staker Parson started using Motive, managers dug into the data: “We noticed that a vehicle operated by a certain driver was having more events than others,” Telematics Site Champion Cristian Zuniga said. “That vehicle in particular needed tire replacements more often than other vehicles of the same type.”
This real-time data allowed them to coach drivers on behaviors that were contributing to higher maintenance costs.
Bonus: A fleet card for maintenance savings.
While a fleet card is not a feature of construction fleet maintenance software, it’s a hidden way to save on maintenance. The Motive Integrated Operations Platform provides a variety of fleet management resources, including a maintenance hub and a fleet card. Motive Card allows you to get discounts and rebates when the card is used to pay for maintenance expenses.
For example, Motive fleets get discounts on maintenance services at partners like Rush Truck Centers, Discount Tire, and Motive Roadside Assistance.
Maximize your construction fleet utilization with Motive
Motive’s maintenance capabilities move you from a reactive maintenance and repair environment to a proactive strategy. And it works to cut costs: Motive customers surveyed reported 20% lower maintenance costs per year and 62% less equipment downtime.
