The Future of the Construction Rental Business: How Companies Can Merge Old-School Best Practices with New-School Technological Innovation

Technology is revolutionizing the construction rental industry. Increasingly, rental professionals are finding ways to harness innovations in artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, big data, BIM (Building Information Modeling), telemetry, 3D printing, and more.

While technology adaptation will be central to any successful company’s growth plan, it can’t be the only pillar on which growth is built. Rental professionals need to merge technological innovation with old-school customer care, employee management, and sustainable business expansion strategies.

As explained in Construction’s Technology Sprint, forward-thinking construction rental companies will build their technology adaptation strategy around four corners: “Digital Data,” “Automation,” “Digital Access,” and “Connectivity.”

The next generation of construction professionals will use cutting-edge technology to achieve their most forward-thinking business tools. This transition will be powered by 6 tools:

1. Vehicle Maintenance Technologies

When you send assets to mechanics, your business slows down. When you keep assets in the field for too long, they break down. Either way, repairs are too expensive. That’s why Vehicle Maintenance technologies are so important: they let you determine exactly when you want equipment to be checked. When machines reach the thresholds you’ve set, you’ll know it’s time to send them to the shop.

2. Digital Hourmeters

When hourmeters are connected to your assets, you’ll know exactly how long they’ve been working for customers. By sharing this data with your accounting department, you can ensure that clients receive accurate bills. By sharing the data with customers, you’ll ensure full transparency and strengthen your relationships.

3. Real-Time Engine Diagnostic Tools

Imagine your client calls you in the middle of the workday. They report that your machine broke down. It’s a bad situation – you didn’t deliver on your promise to provide working equipment. With real-time engine diagnostic tools, you can prevent this situation. These technologies monitor engine DTC codes, sending you automatic notifications the second assets need to be checked.

4. Fleet Visualization Technologies

Today’s GPS technology lets you see where all of your assets and operators are right now. If you want to check if your equipment is at the correct location, all you have to do is look at a map. In addition, the best GPS technologies include features like Dynamic Geofencing and Trip History Reporting.

5. Automatic Reports

Even the most powerful technologies are useless if they send you impenetrable, impossible-to-read data. The best tools automatically turn their analytics into intuitive, easy-to-understand reports. These will include:

• Travel Reports
• Hours of Operation Reports
• Fuel Waste Analysis
• Alert Reports
• Driver Safety Ranking
• Fault Code (DTC) Reports

6. Plug and Play Devices

If you have to stop your entire operation to install new technology, then technology might cost you more in the short-term than you gain in the long-term. That’s why quick-install plug-and-play devices is so important – they’re the only choice for zero-pain technology adaptation.

At FleetUp, we offer all of these technologies and more. Everyday, our engineers build tools that make businesses more productive. Our devices are ruggedized and weatherproofed for the toughest jobs. No matter how rough the construction site, they accurately gather data and monitor assets.

Want to see how these technologies will work with your fleet?