Teletrac Navman Construction Benchmark Report Shows Telematics Use Promotes Better Safety Outcomes

Fifty-one percent say they’ve experienced fewer safety incidents since adopting telematics

Teletrac Navman, a global software-as-a-service provider that leverages location-based technology for GPS tracking solutions, today announced findings from its 3^rd Annual Construction Benchmark Report. The survey, which examined current issues influencing construction organizations, found as telematics adoption grows (90% in 2019 versus 79% in 2018), organizations are experiencing significant benefits, particularly around safety. Thirty-one percent say they have improved driver/operator behavior through telematics usage, and 32 percent report that using telematics prevents speeding.

The survey also found while most respondents (49%) say telematics improves jobsite performance, and most use it for its primary function, to track equipment (73%). The number of organizations using telematics to monitor behaviors that could impact the bottom line has declined. Only 30% are tracking idling (vs. 39% in 2018) and only 21% track fuel usage (vs. 32% in 2018).

Other key insights from the survey include:

Business operations are still primarily paper-based, reflecting few plans to implement new tech

• Twenty-five percent use big data analytics to guide strategic business decision-making, up from 9 percent in 2017.
• However, 42 percent still manually pull records/use paper-based processes for forecasting business hiring needs. Only 20% use tools for big data analysis.
• Twenty-three percent are considering adopting driver warning/alerting technology, while only two percent plan to implement autonomous/self-driving vehicles.
• Fifty percent have no plans to implement new technology.

Talent investment declines amid lower overall demand

• Significantly fewer report that finding, retaining and developing talent is a business challenge in 2019 (21%) than 2018 (35%).
• Increasing material and labor costs tops managers’ list of concerns (49%), followed by driver/operator safety (28%).
• Fifty-five percent plan to increase their fleet size this year.
• Traffic congestion is cited as the biggest external industry threat (51%), followed by aging roads and bridges (25%).

“Though we’re glad to see so many organizations realizing significant safety benefits from telematics, it’s dismaying to know their results could be even better in all operational areas if more of them took full advantage of telematics’ cost-savings capabilities,” said Michael Bloom, director of product management, Teletrac Navman. “Using telematics to track metrics like idling and maintenance might seem insignificant on their own, but they add up to meaningful cost savings. In an industry with such thin margins to begin with, it’s essential to take advantage of any opportunity to reduce expenses, and the customers we’ve seen who leverage telematics to its fullest report it can make a big difference to their bottom line.”

To download the full report, please visit www.TeletracNavman.com/benchmark/construction

Survey Methodology

The 2019 Teletrac Navman Benchmark Survey includes responses from more than 500 across the Construction, Oil & Gas and mining industries in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. This report provides an understanding of best practices and management trends in business, general telematics, emerging technology, construction, infrastructure and talent. Results may not amount to 100 percent due to questions with multiple selections. All statistical values have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

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