Skyjack has created a new telematics solution specifically designed for off-highway rental fleets.
Dubbed Elevate, the new system aims to break down the barriers to telematics adoption, by creating a fully customizable service that focuses the data it collects on the company’s off-highway equipment.
Elevate may be installed at the factory on new machines, or added to existing machines in a customer’s fleet.
“We spent a lot of time in the last year and a bit working on ways to evaluate telematics and make them relevant to the rental industry,” said Skyjack President Brad Boehler. “It’s not just worrying about the data, but what we can do with the data and how we can bring value to that data. We want to bring simplicity to that data.”
Elevate is powered by Trackunit, following a partnership between the two companies that began in October. A key goal of the partnership is to meet demand for machine connectivity from OEMs and to support the connected fleet goals of Skyjack’s customers. As well, the partnership was formed to create a system that provides a data-only package that supports rental company ERP systems, and a standalone end-to-end solution.
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Trackunit has been providing telematics solutions specifically for off-highway and construction on rental fleets for more than 10 years. The company has about 250,000 live assets in the field and about 7,000 customers.
Trackunit’s existing ecosystem allows Skyjack customers to hit the ground running with easy integration for their entire fleet.
“They’ve been doing this for more than 10 years and most importantly they’ve been doing it just for off highway,” said David Swan, Skyjack’s technology and innovation product manager.
As well, Elevate was created with a mobile first approach.
“If I think about roles in this industry, how many spend their day behind a desk? It’s pretty close to zero,” Swan said. “We want to deliver data to where they do business, and they do business in the field.”
The telematics solution incorporates two mobile apps: Elevate Go and Elevate On.
“Elevate Go takes mission critical data that you like to see in a desktop web portal for telematics and boils it down and presents it in a mobile first interface,” Swan said.
Elevate On connects the operator to the system to track operating times and eliminate manual paper processes from job sites.
“The app allows you to digitally track the machine pre-checks, familiarization, operator machine utilization and allows all information to flow back into your understanding of what your machines are doing and how they’re being utilized,” Swan said.
The Elevate Manager web portal allows its user to manage rules, access control, as well as run and schedule reports.
“It’s sending all of that information back down through Elevate Go and Elevate On to make sure your entire organization is connected and acting on this data,” Swan said.
BlueLine Rentals is Skyjack’s first North American customer to receive Elevate equipped machines. The company has ordered the telematics solution on all of its Skyjack units for 2018.
“At BlueLine Rental, we believe in working with each of our OEM partners on technology, as OEMs play an important part in successfully integrating telematics into the rental industry,” said Rob Blackadar vice president of operations at BlueLine Rental.
