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Using Telematics to See When Machines Are Due for Service

Arielle Cox Arielle Cox

In the rental industry, sticking to preventive maintenance schedules can be easier said than done. Machines often come due for routine work while they’re at a customer’s jobsite; if a field tech isn’t available right away and the customer isn’t due to return the equipment for several weeks or months, that service can get delayed for quite some time. (That's assuming the customer even knows how to report that it's due for service in the first place!) And if the machine is returned just a day or two before it’s scheduled to go back out on rent to a different customer? It can be tempting to send it out and start collecting that rental revenue without completing the preventive maintenance. While delaying an oil change once in a blue moon may not have immediate consequences, repeatedly doing so can lead to warranty issues or major unscheduled breakdowns. (Of course, there are some kinds of equipment, such as aerial lifts, where annual inspections are required by law; for these rental assets, compliance with preventive maintenance schedules becomes even more critical.)

With InTempo MX, it’s incredibly easy to spot machines that are due or past due for service. An easy-to-understand map view lets you see all your due-for-service equipment in a given area so you can keep up with routine work that prevents costlier damage in the long run. (With contract data right in the same place, you can also see if the machines are expected to be returned in the very near future, allowing you to get them on the schedule for work back at your shop without having to send a tech out into the field.) As a bonus, keeping your machines well-serviced and rent-ready positively impacts your relationship with your customers who are relying on properly functioning equipment at their job site

Telematics also helps you simplify non-scheduled, non-preventive service. If a machine breaks down while out-on-rent, fault codes can be pulled remotely and reported to you at your shop. Technicians can diagnose the issue from the shop and stock their trucks with the parts that are most likely needed for the repair. This eliminates unnecessary trips to and from sites and can be a practical course of action for getting machines back to rent-ready as quickly and easily as possible.

Going One Step Further: Optimizing Route Planning for Your Service Calls

Once you know what machines need your attention, you can also be more efficient in how you act on that information. The AI-driven route planner available in InTempo CTX lets you schedule your service trips in the most time—and fuel-efficient way.

If machine A needs an oil change; machine B 10 miles away needs new brake pads; and machine C 15 miles away needs transmission fluid, you can send one field technician on a single route to service all three machines before returning to the shop. Your dispatchers don’t have to manually calculate the shortest way to get from Point A to Point B to Point C and back again; the system can automatically arrange it and deliver the day’s schedule directly to the responsible tech.

Improve Your Due for Service Tracking with InTempo

Want to see for yourself how InTempo MX can help you determine when your machines are due for service? Let us help you pinpoint what telematics can do for you. Contact us or request a demo here.


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