Fleet Management

Fleet management

GPS, plant & fleet tracking

Fleet pre-start inspections

Fleet maintenance: complete guide

GPS Tracking

GPS (Global Positioning System) tracking uses satellite signals to determine and record the real-time geographic location of assets, vehicles, or equipment fitted with GPS receivers. Tracking data is transmitted to a central platform via cellular or satellite networks, providing continuous visibility of asset movements, routes, and dwell times. GPS tracking is fundamental to fleet management and high-value mobile asset monitoring.

Geofencing

Geofencing is the use of GPS, RFID, or other location technologies to create virtual geographic boundaries around a defined area. When a tracked asset enters or exits a geofence, the system triggers an automated action such as an alert, notification, or status change. Geofences can be drawn around job sites, depots, restricted zones, client premises, or any area relevant to asset management.

OEM Telematics

OEM telematics refers to the factory-installed tracking and diagnostic systems built into vehicles, plant, and heavy equipment by the original equipment manufacturer. These systems collect and transmit data including GPS location, engine hours, fuel consumption, fault codes, idle time, and operating parameters. Major OEMs such as Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere, Volvo, and Hitachi each offer proprietary telematics platforms.

Chain of Responsibility (CoR)

Chain of responsibility (CoR) is a principle in Australia’s Heavy Vehicle National Law that makes every party who influences a transport task legally accountable for safety, not only the driver. Parties such as operators, schedulers, consignors, consignees, loaders, and packers each have a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of their transport activities. It applies to risks like fatigue, speed, mass, dimension, and load restraint.

Fatigue Management

Fatigue management is the practice of controlling the risk that tired drivers pose to road safety. For fatigue-regulated heavy vehicles in Australia, it involves complying with work and rest hour limits, keeping accurate records such as a work diary, planning realistic schedules, and recognising the signs of fatigue. It is part of the chain of responsibility, so the duty extends beyond drivers to operators and schedulers.

Asset Utilisation Rate

Asset utilisation rate is the percentage of total available time that an asset is actively in productive use. It is calculated by dividing actual operating or usage hours by the total available hours in a given period and multiplying by 100. For example, if an excavator is available for 160 hours in a month and operates for 120 hours, the utilisation rate is 75 per cent. Utilisation can also be measured by distance, cycles, throughput, or other relevant output metrics depending on the asset type. Tracking utilisation across an asset fleet reveals which items are over-utilised (at higher risk of wear and failure), under-utilised (consuming ownership costs without generating proportional value), or idle (candidates for redeployment, sharing, or disposal). Utilisation data is also a key input to fleet right-sizing, capital planning, and rental-versus-purchase decisions. Modern asset tracking platforms calculate utilisation automatically from GPS engine-on data, telematics ignition feeds, and digital check-in/check-out records, removing the need for manual timesheets and providing accurate, real-time utilisation dashboards that operations and finance teams can trust.

Field Service Management (FSM)

Field service management is the coordination of an organisation's resources, including technicians, vehicles, tools, parts, and information, to deliver maintenance, installation, inspection, or repair services at locations outside the organisation's own facilities. FSM encompasses the full service delivery lifecycle: customer or internal request, triage and prioritisation, technician dispatch, travel, on-site work execution, parts consumption, completion reporting, and invoicing or charge-back. Modern FSM platforms integrate scheduling optimisation, mobile workforce tools, asset and inventory management, customer communication, and analytics into a single system. Industries with large field service operations include utilities, telecommunications, HVAC, elevator and escalator maintenance, medical equipment servicing, and industrial equipment support. Key performance indicators for field service include first-time fix rate, mean time to service, technician utilisation, cost per service call, and customer satisfaction scores, all of which are driven by the quality of scheduling, the availability of parts and information, and the effectiveness of the mobile tools provided to technicians in the field.