Technology-based solutions can aid construction companies in fuel management and vehicle tracking, says VIJAY AGRAWAL.

Connected vehicles are the buzzword today, with vehicle manufacturers in a race to get their products future-ready.

Connected vehicles help in real-time tracking of vehicles and remote monitoring of their health. Some manufacturers have also installed fuel monitoring and theft control mechanisms and vehicle operation details. Further, many start-ups and technology companies are providing solutions for vehicle tracking, vehicle operations and fuel monitoring that can be integrated in existing vehicles.

In the construction industry, fuel costs and vehicle operating times are important from a savings perspective. Fuel theft is rampant. The industry is trying to find solutions to these problems. We recently came across Omnicom, a Russian fleet and fuel management system. Omnicom provides fuel management, vehicle tracking, an onboard video terminal and an online monitoring platform on a software as a service (SaaS) basis to integrate data capture, report generation and monitoring. With the installation of these products, an ordinary vehicle can be upgraded to a connected vehicle. Let’s look closer at the use and benefits of this system.

Operation and benefits

Omnicom provides a Cloud-based platform to integrate fuel-level sensors, onboard terminals for vehicle monitoring and the Omnicom video monitoring solution. These devices are installed on the vehicle and connected with the Cloud based platform through GPS, Wi-Fi and GLOSSNASS (a Russian type of GPS). Because of remote area working, the provision has been made to gather data when the vehicle is offline and upload the data when it is connected to the Internet.

This technology provides multiple benefits to users:

Fuel monitoring and fuel consumption analysis, including fuel theft

Detection of maintenance requirement owing to unusual fuel consumption, which indicates maintenance requirement

Automation of previously manually executed tasks and elimination of human error in handling fleet supply and consumption data

Real-time tracking of high-value company assets for better security, control and insurance reduction

CAN-bus data reading and scheduled report delivery

Executive dashboard with forecasting

More efficient fleet usage and longer fleet life thanks to enforcement of lean driving habits

Accident prevention and elimination of related expenses

Automatic detection of various events (speeding, visiting a specific geofence, etc)

Alerts and notifications for predefined events

Support for various sensors, including tire pressure, temperature control, etc

Photo and video integration with playback option

Mobile device integration on IOS and Android.

Onboard tracker
The onboard tracker provides support for various sensors, including fuel sensors. It provides CAN-bus data reading for vehicle health monitoring and transmits data to the online monitoring platform. It is powered by an onboard battery and has an inbuilt battery to provide autonomous operation. It is integrated with a SIM card to provide Internet connectivity and has a Wi-Fi feature for remote areas with poor mobile network.

Fuel-level sensor

The fuel-level sensor measures fuel level in vehicles, diesel gensets and storage tanks. The entire fuel management can be automated, from fuel storage to individual vehicle consumption. It also has a fuel theft alert. It provides 99.2 per cent accuracy with IP69K rating to prevent tampering of sensors. It operates in difficult environments, from -65° to +85°, to provide data and monitoring in all conditions.

Video terminal

The video terminal provides continuous video recording and replaces old videos after 420-1,700 hours. It can be connected with four cameras for day and night vision. It also provides for event-based and manual upload to the online SaaS platform, and helps to monitor vehicle operation and the driver.

In conclusion

Technology is aiding the transformation of standard vehicles to connected vehicles, with multiple solutions in the market. The use of technology helps construction companies monitor vehicle working and fuel management; prevent fuel theft; and generate reports to identify idling of vehicles. All this increases vehicle utilisation and improves operational efficiency.

About the author:
Vijay Agrawal is Executive Director, Equirus Capital, a midmarket-focussed investment banking firm. He heads infrastructure practice at the firm.