We know fleet managers are concerned with construction equipment management safety, but how often do you discuss contracting with your team?
Effective construction equipment rental management contracts are an essential aspect of how your projects succeed. This article looks at the basics of understanding construction equipment rental contracting and management and will help you to enforce your equipment rental contracts better as you grow your business.
Understanding Construction Equipment Management
Construction equipment management involves maintaining and scheduling job site tools. Effective managers promote productivity by ensuring equipment is where it needs to be at the right time. They also track essential data points concerning machinery and equipment best practices and operations to minimize damage and comply with insurance requirements.
Construction Equipment Asset Management
Construction fleet vehicles are a massive undertaking for any fleet management team. They involve intense investment and are a critical part of building and construction businesses. Construction rental fleet managers control theft prevention, and fuel use, schedule routine or emergency maintenance, and ensure worker safety. This means they need to be constantly aware of where their equipment is and how it is being used at all times.
Directing and Controlling Construction Equipment
Directing and controlling construction equipment effectively leads to major benefits in the long run. Effective management can help reduce costs, predict expenses, and improve equipment longevity, safety, and efficiency. In order to direct and control your construction equipment, you should list out all the routine and preventative maintenance each machine requires, assign inspections, and be sure to replace any worn-down parts.
Best Practices for Construction Equipment Management
So, how do you know when a machine requires maintenance or is misused? Let’s look at some best practices when it comes to managing a construction fleet.
Tracking Inventory
Start with an inventory of all your equipment assets. Implementing a practical asset management system will help fleet managers, insurance companies, and contractors remain on the same page when reviewing inventory and ensuring that all parties are working within any contract requirements.
Tracking Equipment Value
While construction fleet managers will want to track all of their equipment assets, GPS tracking software can help prioritize where they need to focus when equipment is leased and used in the field. Asset tracking can sort equipment based on value to help fleet managers prioritize in case of an emergency. They can get to the most valuable assets more quickly to minimize any loss if there is an accident.
Operator Training
Ensuring that construction equipment operators are properly trained is critical for all parties involved in any construction project. We’ll get into contracts more in-depth, but a clause regarding operator training and behavior is essential. Sophisticated tracking software can help fleet managers monitor operators’ performance and equipment use and flag any potential hazards that may signal a breach of contract.
Post-Use Inspections
When construction equipment is returned following a development project, post-use inspections can help fleet managers and insurance companies ascertain whether rental contract stipulations have been met. Any unnecessary wear and tear on machinery should be noted, and all data (photos, videos, recordings, etc.) should be documented and stored in case a piece of equipment should require undue maintenance after use.
Preventative Maintenance
Keeping your construction equipment fleet maintained includes investing in preventative maintenance. Some preventative maintenance strategies include monitoring hours of operation, engine mileage, fleet vehicle inspection dates, changing oil and fuel, and fuel usage. Fleet management software can help fleet managers keep track of these important maintenance data points so the fleet is ready to go when contractors need it. They can rest assured that they won’t get complaints or experience contract issues because their equipment is not operative.
Construction Equipment Rental Contract Basics
We’ve mentioned construction equipment contracts a few times so far, and we want to dig a little deeper into this complex world. Construction equipment is expensive. When an organization (company, government, property developer, etc.) wants to begin a development project, not only do they need to contract people to complete the work, but they also need to contract the necessary equipment to get the job done. These contracts can be worth a lot of money. Take Caterpillar’s recent deal with the U.S. Department of Defense worth $641,000,000.00. These assets are extremely valuable, and keeping track of their use and maintenance is a massive endeavor.
GPS Tracking for Contract Maximization
GPS tracking is an excellent solution to help fleet managers control their construction equipment use, and enforce contract requirements. By tracking machine location, use, and operator behaviors, fleet managers can flag any data points showing a contract stipulation breach. Akin to having a dashcam to monitor distribution vehicle drivers’ behaviors, construction GPS tracking equipment monitors the equipment used even when a supervisor can’t be present.
Software systems can help by using GPS and geofencing to ensure your machinery stays within the designated construction site. You can even create multiple levels of geofences to protect your most valuable assets and keep them away from potentially harmful, dangerous, or vulnerable areas of a site. Tracking the equipment with GPS will also help to enforce your contract, and if there should be any dispute, you’ll have the data to show where, when, and how a contract breach occurred.
We hope this article helped you get a better understanding of how you can best protect your construction equipment fleet, and maximize your bottom line.
Find out which of our asset-tracking devices can help your business protect your construction assets now.
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