On a construction fleet the unit of value is not distance, it is engine hours — and the gap between hours running and hours working is where the margin goes.
The four areas where a generic tracking deployment stops being enough.
Metrics that change a decision, and where each one comes from.
| Metric | Why it matters | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Engine hours per asset | The billing and service unit | CAN bus, not ignition inference |
| Working hours versus running hours | Separates productive time from idling | PTO state against engine hours |
| Utilisation rate per machine | Decides hire versus own versus dispose | Working hours against available hours |
| Fuel per engine hour | Catches both theft and inefficiency | Probe or CAN consumption |
| Unauthorised movement events | Plant theft is a real exposure | Geofence plus out-of-hours rules |
| Overdue services | Breakdown on site stops the job | Service intervals against real hours |
An excavator may move two hundred metres in a week and still be the most heavily used asset on the site. Reporting it by kilometres makes it look idle. Reporting it by engine hours, with PTO state separating hydraulic work from a machine left running at lunch, makes the real picture visible — and that picture almost always shows more idling than the site manager expects.
Engine hours from CAN data are the machine's own figure and hold up in a hire dispute. Hours inferred from ignition state are an approximation that a client can argue with, which is why the hardware choice matters more on plant than it does on a van.
Plant is refuelled by bowser, often without a meter, frequently at the end of a shift, and the paperwork is a docket. That combination makes fuel the easiest cost on a construction site to lose, and the hardest to prove. Fitting probes to the machines that consume most, and reconciling deliveries against measured tank levels, turns an unauditable number into one you can question.
The pattern worth looking for is not a single dramatic loss — it is a consistent gap between fuel delivered and fuel that reached tanks. See fuel monitoring for how calibration determines whether that gap is measurable at all.
Generators, compactors, towers, containers and trailers have no ignition supply, so they need battery-powered trackers reporting on a long interval. That is a deliberate configuration rather than a compromise: a unit reporting twice a day can run for years, and for asset security and utilisation that is usually enough. Our wired versus battery guide covers when each applies.
Calendar servicing over-services idle machines and under-services busy ones, and the second failure is the expensive one because a breakdown on site stops more than the machine. Once engine hours are real, intervals follow usage, and the workshop schedule stops being a guess.
Tell us your plant mix and how you currently bill hours, and we will show you utilisation on your own assets. Book a demo or message us on WhatsApp.
Yes, with battery-powered trackers on a long reporting interval. A generator, compactor or container reporting twice a day can run for years on its own battery, and for security and utilisation that is normally sufficient. Reporting more often is possible and costs battery life.
Because ignition-derived hours count a machine sitting with the key turned as working, and a hire client can dispute that. CAN hours are the machine's own counter, which is what makes them defensible on an invoice and correct for service scheduling.
PTO state, where the machine exposes it. PTO tells you the hydraulics or auxiliary equipment were engaged, which distinguishes a machine doing work from one merely running. Without it you have engine hours, which overstate utilisation.
Yes, and it is usually where the money is, because bowser refuelling with paper dockets is the hardest fuel process to audit. Fit probes to the highest-consuming machines first rather than the whole yard, and reconcile deliveries against measured tank levels.
Yes. Site geofences combined with time-window rules flag movement outside permitted hours, which is the main practical defence against plant theft. The alert is only useful if it routes to somebody who will act at that hour, which is a configuration decision worth making at setup.
A demo on your own routes, assets and reporting requirements tells you more than any feature list. Tell us the shape of your operation.
Discuss Your Fleet →