At Fleetware, we pride ourselves on being problem solvers. We love helping businesses that might have ‘outside-the-box’ problems that other telematics companies can’t accommodate for. Previously, we talked about how the team were able to source a Bluetooth device for a business with a fleet of concrete trucks, so that they could monitor the direction and speed of the rotating concrete drums.
More recently, we had an agriculture supply company reach out to us, and they hire out attachments and other implements to farmers that are towed behind tractors.
They came to us with a couple of problems:
- The attachments that they hire out don’t have any power sources on them, they simply operate via hydraulics.
- They charge the farmers for the hire equipment based on how many hectares they are used on; however, this company had no way of knowing the exact or true number of hectares that their equipment had covered.
Solar-Powered Solution
So, we sourced a solar-powered device to tackle these problems! This device accommodates for the lack of power source on the hire equipment as it gets recharged by the sun, and then functions as a normal GPS tracking device.
Accurate Distance Calculations
The Ag supply company was then able to accurately calculate the number of hectares that their implements had travelled. We would measure this by multiplying the distance travelled by the implement width, as well as drawing geo-fences around the different paddocks that the farmers used the equipment on. Using the geo-fences is super effective for the actual hectare calculations, as it will exclude the trips from the Ag supply company to the farm, or from the farm shed down to the paddock.
Assessing Damage to Hire Equipment
Another issue that the Ag supply company was facing was that the tractor attachments were being returned damaged, and farmers were simply blaming the quality or make of the equipment. However, it’s important to know when towing this equipment behind a tractor, farmers shouldn’t be driving more than 20 or 30 km/hr.
But, now with their solar-powered devices, they are also able to see the speed at which the implements are being towed. So, if their hire equipment is returned to them and it’s damaged, they can now check the data from the device and potentially charge the farmers if they are found to be speeding and misusing their implements.
This company is super happy with the technology that we sourced for them and have increased their bill-out rate by nearly 25%!
If you have any projects that are outside of the box like this and need a specific, individual solution, please get in touch.
