Construction asset tracking: machines, hours, fuel and parts
How a small construction or plant-hire company can track machines, engine hours, fuel tanks, operators and spare parts, and keep services on time.
The short answer
Give every machine its own record, log engine hours weekly and service by hours with a calendar limit as well. Record who has each machine and where, and keep fuel and spare parts as stock with minimum levels.
What should a small construction company track?
Asset tracking in a small construction or plant-hire company starts with five things: your machines, their engine hours, your fuel, your spare parts and who has each machine. Together they answer the questions that cost money on a site. Where is the excavator? Is it due a service? Is there enough diesel? Do we have the right filter?
You do not need to track every shovel on day one. Begin with what is expensive, what needs servicing and what stops work when it goes missing. Add smaller items once the main list works.
How do you set up a machine register?
Give each machine one record and a short number that never changes. Paint or label that number on the machine. From then on, phone calls, timesheets and invoices can all use the same number.
Keep only the facts you will really use. For most machines that means make, model, serial number, year, purchase date, purchase price and status. A short list of fields that people always fill in is worth more than a long list that nobody completes.
Not everything on a site needs the same treatment. Some things need their own record, while others only need a count:
| Item kind | Use it for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Unique item | Anything with its own serial number, hours or service history | Excavators, dumpers, generators, laser levels |
| Counted item | Identical items where only the number matters | Road barriers, fence panels, props |
| Consumable | Things that get used up | Fuel, grease, filters, cutting discs |
Give attachments such as buckets and breakers their own records too. They move from machine to machine, so they are easy to lose.
In TagOrbit, each kind of thing is a category, such as Machines, Attachments or Spare parts. You switch on what each category needs, such as the item kind, custody, maintenance and meters. Categories are grouped into departments, for example Plant and Workshop.
How do you keep engine hours up to date?
Engine hours drive most service intervals, so they must stay current. The simplest routine is one reading per machine on the same day each week. The operator or the yard foreman takes it, and a photo of the hour display settles any doubt later.
Two simple checks catch common errors. A reading should never go down. A sudden big jump usually means a typing error. Ask about either on the same day, while people still remember.
If you hire machines out, take a reading when each one leaves and again when it comes back. The difference is the use on that job, which helps both your invoice and your service plan.
In TagOrbit you log each reading on the machine's record. TagOrbit learns how fast each machine is used and moves its next service date with that pace. The result is an estimated date: it is labelled "estimated" and names the reading it came from.
How should you plan services by hours?
Service intervals come from the maker's manual, and for most machines they are set in engine hours. Add a calendar limit as well, because oil, coolant and batteries age even when a machine stands still. Whichever limit comes first triggers the service.
For example, a 500-hour service with a yearly limit means a machine that stands idle for months is still checked once a year. In TagOrbit that time limit is a backstop, and it always applies alongside the hours.
This is what preventive maintenance means: you service before something breaks, not after. Read the guide to preventive maintenance by date and by meter for the full method.
Who has each machine, and where is it?
Machines move between sites, operators and subcontractors. A "current user" column in a spreadsheet only shows the latest guess, and it forgets everything before it.
Record each hand-over instead: who took the machine or which site it went to, and on what date. When a machine comes back damaged, you can then see who had it at the time.
In TagOrbit you give a machine to a person or a location. Each hand-over is kept as a dated span with a name on it, never an overwritten field. Locations can sit inside each other, such as Main yard, then Bay 3. An optional due-back date raises an overdue alert, and a company-wide Assign page shows who holds what.
Keep your operators as contacts, with the expiry date of each person's training card or licence. Check it before you hand over a machine.
If you hire machines out, treat each hire as a booking with a check-out and a check-in. TagOrbit makes double bookings of a bookable machine impossible. The guide to renting out equipment without double bookings covers the details.
How do you keep track of fuel?
Fuel needs three numbers: what was delivered, what was drawn out and what is really in the tank. Write down each delivery from the delivery note. Write down each fill, ideally with the machine and its hour reading. Then dip the tank on a fixed day each week.
Compare the dip with what your records say should be there. Small differences happen with any dipstick. If the gap grows week after week, ask questions that same week.
Set the minimum level high enough to cover the time your supplier needs to deliver. An empty tank stops every machine that depends on it.
In TagOrbit, fuel is stock like anything else that runs out, with tank levels in litres. You record what is used, run a stock count when you dip, and set a minimum level that raises a low-stock alert. The Inventory page shows everything that runs out, tanks included. A low tank also appears in Needs attention, the one list of what is due, low or overdue.
How do you stop running out of spare parts?
List the parts that stop a machine when they are missing: filters, belts, hoses, bucket teeth and cutting edges. Keep those as stock, with a minimum level for each place you store them, such as the yard store and the service van.
Note on each part which machines it fits, so the fitter takes the right one on the first trip. Moving parts from the yard to a van is a transfer between locations, not a new purchase. Count the store on a fixed day each month and correct the numbers.
When a parts invoice arrives, drop it into TagOrbit as a PDF or a photo. AI reads it and fills in the fields. A receipt with many lines becomes a purchase plus one record per item, with links and stock. AI never changes your data by itself: you see what it proposes and decide.
In what order should you set it up?
- List your machines and give each one a number that never changes.
- Label each machine with its number, where the operator can see it.
- Take a first hour reading from every machine.
- Enter the service interval and the calendar limit for each type of machine.
- Add your fuel tanks and critical spare parts, each with a minimum level.
- Record who has each machine today, and where it is.
- Agree the weekly reading day and who takes the readings.
Steps 1 to 4 build the register. Steps 5 to 7 turn it into a habit.
Where does TagOrbit fit?
TagOrbit keeps machines, hours, fuel, parts and hand-overs in one place, in the browser on a computer, tablet or phone. Describe a construction business in one sentence, and TagOrbit proposes machines, engine hours, fuel tanks, operators, a 500-hour service and spare parts. You keep, rename or delete each proposal. Create your TagOrbit account and try it on your own yard.