Outsourcing Options

Nov. 15, 2013

Last week, I laid out three areas of change facing fleet-asset managers in 2014 and suggested that organizations will need equipment expertise in dealing with those areas.

Outsourcing is one of those areas that is at the fore. Caterpillar last week quietly announced to editors it plans to offer complete fleet management services. Not much detail was provided, but the company has long targeted contained fleets in mines and quarries with services designed to monitor and deliver certain levels of uptime while maintaining those machines.

With telematics, the leap to full fleet management is a short one for contained fleets.

Rental firms have also expressed the desire to manage certain fleet assets. The most logical and effective in the short-term is emissions compliance. The paperwork necessary to validate compliance is a clerical nightmare for fleets, so why not let the rental house manage it. Plus, renting the most compliant machine keeps the new technologies and accompanying maintenance issues out of the fleet owner’s shop.

Distributors will be the next to position themselves as a reliable and cost-effective outsourcing partner. Again, with the help of the OEM telematics capabilities, distributors have access to a fleet owner’s machines. They can tell you when a maintenance issue needs to be addressed and can even dispatch the field service team to take care of it.

The final piece in the outsourcing puzzle is labor. There is still a shortage of technicians and young people who even consider the equipment business. It may very well reach the point where staffing in-house equipment maintenance and repair will no longer be feasible.

About the Author

Rod Sutton

I have served as the editorial lead of Construction Equipment magazine and ConstructionEquipment.com since 2001. 

Our mission is to help managers of heavy equipment and trucks to improve their performance in acquiring and managing their fleets. One way we do that is with our Executive Institute, where experts share information and ideas that will enable equipment managers to accurately manage equipment costs so that they can deliver the optimum financial benefits to their organizations.

We also have a laser focus on product development, performance, and technology; as well as equipment acquisition, disposal, and maintenance. Our exclusive Field Tests take earthmoving equipment and truck into the field for professional evaluations.

Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

You can find me on LinkedIn.

Frank Raczon, Construction Equipment
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
ID 9194607 © Arak7 | Dreamstime.com
ID 9194607 © Arak7 | Dreamstime.com