Guides for people who run heavy machines.
Practical writing on construction fleet management, telematics, GPS tracking, preventive maintenance and everything that keeps a yard moving on a Monday morning.
Telematics without a CAN bus: what you can still read, and what you can't.
"There's no CAN bus" usually gets treated as the end of the conversation. It isn't, quite. Here's exactly what a retrofit sensor can still capture - and what genuinely stays off the table.
12 guides so far.
- Telematics6 min
Generator and genset monitoring: fuel, load and runtime over Modbus
A generator failing is rarely a surprise to the machine - it's a surprise to whoever needed the power. Here's what Modbus monitoring actually gives you, and the one alert that matters most.
- Telematics7 min
Retrofit telematics: getting live data from machines without factory telematics
Every fleet has a machine nobody's told can be a data source. Here's what a retrofit gateway actually does, what it costs, and what to check before you buy one.
- Guides11 min
Equipment maintenance software: the preventive maintenance guide for mixed fleets
A step-by-step programme for planning service on a mixed fleet - triggered by engine hours and fault codes instead of calendar dates - plus the arithmetic that shows what unplanned downtime really costs you.
- Technology10 min
Electric construction equipment telematics: reading CAN bus state of charge and run hours
You bought an electric excavator and your telematics platform shows fuel level: 0. Here is why that happens, what an electric machine actually publishes on the CAN bus, and how to monitor diesel and battery machines on one screen.
- Comparison6 min
Trackunit alternative: what to actually compare on
Trackunit is a solid product and built most of this market. That doesn't automatically make it the right choice for your yard. Here's what to actually compare it on.
- Maintenance7 min
OEM fault codes explained: SPN, FMI, and what to do about them
SPN 3936, FMI 15. What does it actually mean, and does the machine need to stop right now? A field guide to J1939 fault codes.
- Telematics8 min
Mixed-fleet telematics: unifying CAT, Volvo, Komatsu and JCB data
AEMP 2.0 was supposed to solve mixed-fleet telematics in 2015. It didn't. Here is what actually works when your yard runs six brands.
- Maintenance8 min
Preventive maintenance for construction equipment: a practical schedule
A practical, engine-hour-based service schedule for the machines you actually run - with the intervals, the checks, and how to plan the work without stopping the site.
- Telematics6 min
GPS tracking for heavy equipment: what actually matters
Every telematics vendor sells GPS. Very few sell GPS that a yard manager can rely on at 06:45 on a Monday. Here is the checklist that separates the two.
- Operations7 min
How to reduce equipment idle time on a construction site
Idle time on a construction site is silent money. Here is how to measure it, set targets, and cut it by 25% in a quarter - without slowing anyone down.
- Buyer's guides9 min
Construction fleet management software: a 2026 buyer's guide
Most fleets already have five telematics logins and none of them talk to each other. Here is what actually matters when you replace them with one system.
