(This article introduces infrastructure, heavy/highway and utility firms to several construction equipment management software tools that track the cost of, and schedule for, equipment maintenance.)

The many companies involved in building, or rebuilding, the nation’s infrastructure, face the constant challenge of maintaining, scheduling, repairing and replacing equipment.

In the not-so-distant past, much of the information used to manage those processes was bound up in paper, only to be liberated for analysis at about the same time the piece of equipment reached the end of its useful life. In the meantime, countless hours of productive use was lost, more repairs were required as maintenance was always playing catch-up, and opportunities were missed to trade up before the piece of equipment reached the end of its life.

Today, with the power of computer software, equipment management in construction sectors such as heavy/highway, infrastructure and utilities is approaching an art form. The payback to the companies is enormous. Equipment is better maintained, it is aggressively scheduled to minimize unproductive hours, it is serviced at the right cycles, and it is set for trade up, or trade in, at the optimum times to gain back the greatest outgoing value.

Several companies, including Maxwell Systems, Intersoft Systems and Explorer Software, make systems that address all the business needs of heavy, highway and utility contractors. This article, however, is about three stand-alone construction equipment management software packages that could be a fit for two types of companies – those that are not using complete enterprise packages that already have this functionality, or those that simply prefer stand-alone construction equipment management software.

The three included here are the following:

• GearWatch, which offers fleet management for unit maintenance tracking, costing and income tracking;
• CollectiveFleet, which goes beyond just managing fleet maintenance to also chart vehicle operator behavior and job site assignments, and
• ManagerPlus, a maintenance management program described by its developer as quick to learn and so easy to use so that it will get used.

Click on the links to learn more about each product.