Clue Offers Telematics Purpose-Built for Heavy Civil Construction

Most fleet managers know the major, higher-profile players in telematics, names such as Teletrac Navman, Verizon, Samsera, and HCSS, but there are a host of others offering a variety of telematics solutions.

Some of the more subtle differences between offerings may help your fleet, so we're taking a look at a sampling of firms you may not have heard of.

Get a "Clue"

Clue is an end-to-end equipment management platform covering maintenance, dispatch, fueling, finance, rate management, rentals, production, and reporting, all in one system.

Clue works with any hardware. Contractors can connect any telematics or third-party system they already own via API access. 

"That includes over 80 integrations: Samsara, Geotab, Verizon, Motive, Tenna, HCSS, EquipmentShare T3, Ford Pro Telematics, and more," said Asif Mirza of Clue. "No ripping and replacing. Just unified visibility."

As far as back-office integration goes, the company integrates natively with leading ERPs including Viewpoint Vista, Spectrum, Foundation, and CMiC. "That means equipment data flows directly into the systems contractors already use," Mirza said.

Clue covers both off-highway and on-highway assets. 

"We support mixed fleets, bringing white fleet, including dump trucks, haul trucks, lowboys, service rigs, fuel and lube trucks, and pickups together with yellow iron in one unified system," Mirza said.

What sets Clue telematics apart?

• First, works with any hardware. Most competitors require contractors to rip out existing telematics and replace it with proprietary hardware. Clue unifies what contractors already have, connecting 80+ telematics providers, ERPs, and maintenance systems into one platform.
• Second, purpose-built for heavy civil construction. Clue was not retrofitted from a generic fleet product. It was built for how construction actually runs, with job costing integrations, rental reconciliation, cycle-level production tracking, and crew and equipment dispatch built into thecore workflows.
• Third, the company says it has the highest level of ERP customization in the market. Where other platforms offer a connection, Clue offers a fully mapped workflow that reflects how each contractor codes costs, manages approvals, and closes out jobs.
• Fourth, AI embedded into daily workflows. Clue AI does not just surface data. From predicting failures before they happen to automatically ingesting rental contracts, invoices, and oil analysis reports, AI is built into the workflows that previously required the most manual effort.

Advice for managers

One question we always ask is what a company would say to a manager who has not yet embraced telematics. Adoption levels still vary, especially among smaller fleets – yet the tech is there.

"If your equipment was manufactured after 2015, you already have telematics. The data is there," Mirza said.

AI in fleet management: Advice from our expert panel

"The only question is whether you are using it. The two concerns we hear most are cost and adoption. Both were valid ten years ago, but neither holds up today. Most contractors already have OEM telematics, including [Caterpillar] VisionLink, JDLink, and Komtrax, sitting unused," Mirza explained.

"The first step is not buying new hardware. It's putting the data you already have to work. If the system is hard to use, crews will not use it," he said.

"Clue is designed so anyone on the job site can pick it up quickly."