Terex Trucks’ GPS/telematics search

The 3652 Terex team at Motherwell, Scotland, is looking into two companies to provide GPS and telematics for its rigid and articulated dump trucks, writes Guy Woodford. “Increasingly, our customers want to know more about how their machines are performing to allow them to take quick action if any situations arise, such as a drop in oil pressure. This is especially true for rental houses, who want to monitor how their machines are being used when working at various sites,” says Scott Pollock, global product manager for Terex Trucks.

“With our new telematics system, they can be notified on when machines are speeding, over-revving or other incidents of machine abuse. Other sectors such as mining and quarrying are also extremely interested in this technology as it allows them to capture data on laden idle times and unladen idle times, which affect productivity levels.

“In addition to remotely gathering better feedback about their machines’ track usage, productivity and fuel consumption, truck owners also want to be able to pinpoint the location of their trucks at any given time. To meet both of these customers’ needs, we are currently looking into GPS and telematics solutions for our trucks, with a view to having the systems in place by early 2014.”

The Terex team is currently in discussion with two companies with regards to GPS and telematics, one of which is IFM who currently supply the electronic interface for the Terex ADTs. According to Pollock, these developments will provide customers with ample new data for them to analyse and improve the way their trucks are being driven.

“Each owner will receive a confidential ID number. They will then be able to receive a full report on things such as track speed temperature, oil pressure and idle times. They can access the information through live monitoring on their PC or choose to receive alerts via their telephones, by using a locally-sourced SIM card. This removes any guesswork and allows them to be a lot more proactive when looking for ways to operate their truck in order to reduce bottlenecks, save fuel, reduce costs and increase profitability. “In addition, the new telematics system will provide engine conditioning functionality options. An oil conditioning function helps prolong the life of the oil, thereby reducing cost of ownership. This is particularly good news for trucks being used in mining. Our UK distribution arm has been testing this and has found it has significant ownership cost results. We are now looking to go global with this.”