While many contractors have incorporated GPS tracking systems on higher-investment machines, smaller equipment is often left untraceable.
To ensure all tools on the job are trackable, Motive has introduced Beacon, a compact and durable tracking device that can help operations teams quickly locate smaller work site necessities.
“In the construction industry, most folks have a strategy for tracking their dozers, cranes, loaders or backhoes. When you look at physical operations, there’s lots of assets that make up the essence of an efficient operation,” said Robert Higdon, Director of Product at Motive.
Beacon allows contractors to track anything, from porta potties to air compressors to shipping containers.
“These are things you may not make the investment decision to put a GPS tracker on, but are still essential to getting the job done,” Higdon said.
The Beacon uses Bluetooth rather than its own GPS signal or cellular connection.
Instead, it’s powered by the Motive Mesh Network, the company’s growing network that uses Motive Vehicle Gateways and devices running the Motive Fleet app and Driver app to detect Beacons via Bluetooth and help securely report the last known location.
This allowed Motive to create a smaller and more cost-effective device.
With the Motive Mesh Network, Beacon can provide the visibility a team need to maximize asset utilization, locate equipment across vast operations and prevent equipment from being left behind at jobsites.
“That phone or vehicle gateway can say ‘I saw this device when I was at location X at this stage and time’,” Higdon said. “The Beacon itself is sending out a Bluetooth signal, so anything that’s in the Motive Mesh Network within range of the signal can detect that it picked up that Beacon.”
Through the network, teams can receive high-frequency in-transit tracking alerts, as frequently as every minute, when travelling with a Motive Vehicle Gateway.
As well, Beacon can help companies maximize equipment usage by determining which equipment is underutilized, whether that’s assets sitting idle on a company lot or underused in the field.
Tracking also helps quickly recover misplaced equipment. Contractors can locate assets left behind at a jobsite or loaded onto the wrong vehicle to avoid delays and costly mistakes.
Upcoming Motive Dashboard updates will automatically group equipment travelling with an organization’s drivers and vehicles to give teams real-time visibility into asset movement. Alerts will notify managers when equipment leaves approved geofenced areas or is transported by the wrong vehicle.
“Missing equipment costs companies billions of dollars annually,” Higdon said. “With Motive Beacon, we’re helping give customers the visibility they need to locate equipment and assets within the Motive platform, the same platform they’re already using to manage the most critical pieces of their operations including vehicles, drivers, fleet-related spend and heavy equipment.”
Built-in historical reporting can help track equipment movement over time, identify dormant assets, optimize utilization and support long-term planning.
The waterproof device measure about 55 mm x 53 mm x 21 mm and can be mounted using an adhesive or screws.
“This is about delivering value to customers and helping increase utilization of a class of assets that really matter to their operations,” Higdon said.
