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Spring 2022 49 NO TIME TO BE IDLE One area o ering potential savings with the use of tracking technology is idling. According to CAT, construction equipment idle time can be as much as 40-50% of total operation time. Based on an average ABAX customer in 2021, drivers idle 32 hours per year. at equates to 73.6l of wasted fuel and 284kg of CO2 emissions per driver. Idling is key to fuel reduction and therefore carbon e ciency. Telematics technology will highlight idling time, allowing sitemanagers to identify where improvements could bemade. TACKLING THE COST OF THEFT In 2020, the cost of theft and vandalism to the UK construction industry was at least £800million. at cost is predicted to rise in 2022 as a direct impact of increasing fuel and materials prices. Machinery and equipment theft has plagued the UK, with a reported 80% of those in the construction industry falling victim and less than 10% of equipment being recovered. e average builder will experience loss of £10,000 worth of tools in their lifetime. ABAX reports the UK clocked up nearly 13 million hours of usage across 11,245 plant & machinery units in 2021 and recorded 22,380 signals coming from tools equipped with their ABAX Mini solution – actively preventing the theft and loss of 6496 tools. is recorded usage was 160%higher than Sweden and 73%higher thanNorway – a country that has been experiencing a similar construction crime wave in recent years. Kevin Bull said: “We urge businesses to recognise that the advancing tactics of criminals require the use of more complex and modern technology to be used in conjunction with traditional anti- theft methods.” Kevin said he had seen customers recover stolen vehicles that had travelledmore than 150miles, thanks to GPS tracking. PRODUCTIVITY SAVINGS WITHOUT MISPLACED TOOLS “Although theft will be one of the biggest avoidable costs when it comes to construction vehicles and tools – there’s a hidden cost in time wasted searching for misplaced assets. Our research shows construction workers lose 38 hours annually looking for their tools – that’s a signi cant productivity loss that telematics can help overcome,” said Kevin. e European Confederation of Equipment Distributors says the cost of replacing lost tools andmachinery is one of themost wasteful parts of the construction industry because these tools aremade from high-emitting rawmaterials such as steel, aluminium, and polycarbonates/polyamides. Telematics used for tool tracking allows workers to quickly locate what they’re searching for. THE RISE OF SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT Emission-reducing e orts have led to increases in carbon reporting and the introduction of legislation such as those curtailing the use of red diesel. Fleet managers are being urged to look at the accuracy of their fuel usage data, and how e ciently they can access it. From announcements at COP26 to enshrine in law climate disclosures for the country’s largest companies, to the 2019 introduction of Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) and new rules restricting the use of red diesel coming in to force fromApril 2022, the UK government is pressing on with its sustainability agenda and, with it, e orts to reduce emissions. According to the KPMG Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2020, 80% of the 5,200 companies included reports on sustainability. For UK-based organisations it’s 90% – a higher rate likely impacted by the 2019 introduction of Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR). And that’s predicted to rise with the UK government announcing at COP26 plans to enshrine in law climate disclosures for the country’s largest companies. Legislation centring on carbon and sustainability reporting in the UK is largely focused on bigger organisations, with the mandatory disclosure of climate-related nancial information only relevant to over 1,300 of the largest UK-registered companies and nancial institutions. e SECR applies to companies that t into two of the three following requirements: More than 250 employees, greater than £36 million in annual revenue, and a balance sheet greater than £18million. Yet many other organisations voluntarily choose to report on their carbon footprint, including the sustainability of their eets, to demonstrate being carbon neutral or reducing e orts to stakeholders and customers. Sustainability reporting is becoming commonplace in modern day organisations, and eet managers should expect to contribute with data such as emissions tracking through to accurate monitoring of grey eet vehicles. >>