GPS TRUCK TRACKING SYSTEM KEEPS CAT® FLEET UP, RUNNING AND EARNING
Keeping its fleet of Cat® 775F trucks up and running in a punishing quarry environment is priority one for Saiia Construction—and after two years of using Cat Product LinkTM to monitor performance and fuel use, the company is thrilled with the results.
“We’ve reaped benefits from it, no doubt,” says project manager Mark Ray, reporting a 2 percent increase in truck availability and a 2 percent decrease in unit cost since Saiia began using the GPS truck tracking system on its O’Neal Quarry jobsite in Alabaster, Alabama.
At this particular quarry, Saiia typically works around the clock, seven days a week, doing everything from production hauling to overburden removal. Job conditions are challenging, and Ray says equipment availability is the key to profitability.
“As long as those trucks are up and running, we make money,” he says. “That is the bottom line.”
In conditions like these, operator errors can be quite costly. Fortunately, Saiia leaders and their dealer support team at Thompson Tractor are able to monitor trucks remotely — using VisionLink®, Product Link’s web-based user interface — and identify misuse in real time.
In one section of the O’Neal Quarry, for example, where the haul road features a very steep incline, Product Link reports revealed that some operators weren’t using the retarder as they came off the dump area. With this data in hand, Saiia was able to train its operators on better practices—resulting in cost savings of around $12,000.
In fact, since implementing Product Link, Saiia has been able to reduce operator events by 75 percent. The company also credits the GPS truck tracking system with improving its bid accuracy, thanks in large part to the ability to track fuel usage.
“On previous jobs we've bid, we've always been high on our fuel consumption,” Ray says. “Now, we can go in and look and know exactly how many gallons per hour it burns. It helps use get our bids closer and be more competitive.”
