According to IBISWorld, the US dump truck industry had a market size of $19.3 billion in 2020. The use of assets for dump trucks drives heavy civil construction projects forward as they routinely supply ground material requirements. Relying on legacy methods, such as recording progress via payment records, prevents contractors from knowing the true progress of their projects. Thus, projects often run over time and on budget. McKinsey reported that “98 percent of mega projects experienced cost overruns of more than 30 percent, and 77 percent of mega projects were at least 40 percent late.” Despite the advent of digital solutions, contractors are still in the dark when it comes to the status of their projects. Oversight of e-ticketing, Alan Waha, Head of Digital Transformation at international design firm BuroHappold Engineering, sees “Technology providers, such as construction companies, are very focused on documents and very focused on supporting existing industry models and processes.” Thus, “most technologies simply help us make the same mistakes faster.” Electronic ticket platforms are an example of a document-centric solution. Paper tickets were an ancient way of keeping track of the amount, type, and timestamps of items transported by dump trucks. In recent years, electronic tickets have emerged to save time and cost in transporting materials to combat the headaches associated with paper ticket processing. However, there are significant drawbacks. Most e-ticketing platforms not only leave contractors with a sea of raw data, but their entry requirements also fail to comply with safety considerations. Many e-ticketing platforms rely entirely on user input to capture and confirm upload events. Whether it is button clicks upon arrival and departure, uploading images for paper tickets, or other manual interactions on a mobile application, these requirements distract drivers and field staff, diverting their attention from their main goal – the safe execution of the job. Moreover, this data capture method is highly vulnerable to user error. Obtaining cost controls, accurately and safely challenge contractors to undo deficiencies in documents and focus their focus on the overarching problem: How can they obtain adequate controls over their projects, accurately and safely? The cycle time of construction equipment for drilling operations has a significant impact on the overall productivity of the project. By understanding the elements that directly affect a dump truck’s cycle time, contractors can accurately determine dump cycle time and implement strategies to reduce it. REAL INFORMATION ANALYSIS With artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, it is now possible for contractors to view the exact breakdowns of a dump truck’s cycle time – from loading, regulation, dumping, deceleration, and real travel times – at a glance. This real-time analysis of information is revolutionary for project managers to perform more robust time-cycle analysis. In turn, paper and digital tickets retrieve basic information, displaying arrival and departure times at loading and unloading locations. Reporting changes in the field In addition, AI can flag changes in the field, whether that’s dump trucks destined for a different dump or source location or moving them to a different job, which requires an alternate cost code. This type of notification enables project managers to know what is happening without reviewing the live or historical movements of individual transportation vehicles. As a result, they have accurate cost provisions for their projects without having to untangle this insight in the month-end settlement. Marking changes in the field is also unequivocal confirmation that a load has been dropped at an approved facility when contractors are dealing with contaminated soil. Passive collection of information The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity for users to take advantage of mobile applications in their work. Although most applications are designed to require user input, it is not impossible for technology providers to configure mobile applications to passively capture upload contributions. This means the driver does not need to interact with their devices at any time while on the road or in the field. Removing reliance on user input allows contractors to retrieve accurate GPS information at all times – even when drivers encounter little or no contact areas. Meeting the Need for SaaS Project Management Scott Purdue is the Director of Operations at B&B Contracting. As a leading civil construction contractor in Vancouver, BC, B&B Contracting continues to have the high capacity and reputation for completing the project on schedule and within budget with safety and quality in mind. “Until now, there has been no trucking management solution geared towards project management. By partnering with HaulR, we can determine what is happening in the field every day across various projects, calculate accurate physical production, and have more consistent information handling cost controls. In the end, we get the whole picture that wasn’t taken on paper or digital tickets.”
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