Embrace Mobile Technology. Why Wait for a Safer Job Site?
Safety in the crane and rigging industry, whether it’s at the job site or back in your crane yard should be a non-negotiable, number one priority. Mobile technology can help achieve a safer job site.
by Jeff Curran
After years of working with a fleet of my own (my father started the Detroit based JJ Curran Crane Company over 65 years ago) I decided that I wanted our company and our industry to use mobile technology to modernize all aspects of fleet management. As a fleet owner and service provider, I live and breathe this on a daily basis.
Having spent thousands of hours with other industry professionals and coming to understand their fleet management needs; I founded what is now Fleet Cost & Care over 20 years ago. We provide centralized fleet management software to help our customers all over the world save time, enhance efficiency and improve safety. Primarily we work within the crane and heavy lifting sector, but our software can dramatically change the way any company with a fleet of equipment runs its business.
As a fleet owner, I need to know that my team – from sales to operations – takes the proper steps to ensure safety and reduce liability at every step of a job. Proper lift planning, preventative maintenance tracking, pre-lift checklists and required authorizations – are critical for every job. We perform these and many other tasks in the interest of our customers, employees and not to mention ourselves!
As a service provider, I understand that in today’s world it is not enough to take people on their word or a handshake that a crane or any piece of equipment is running above acceptable condition or that your operator is up-to-date on his training and certifications or that the job foreman says you have completed the necessary safety procedures to start work. In this industry, every job needs a digital trail to provide assurances of compliance and reduce risk.
Download the App
We need to embrace integrated mobile technology in the fleet management industry. Using desktop software tools like ERPs, or programs that assist in dispatch, scheduling and preventative maintenance are only a start. Today, where safety and compliance are paramount, you have only touched the surface if those tools do not leave the office or the crane yard. Mobile technology makes essential two-way, real-time workflow a reality for the fleet owner.
By empowering your field employees with mobile apps you help them in completing all of their daily tasks efficiently. It is imperative we stay ahead of the curve.
A fleet management tool that your employee can take anywhere is the inescapable direction of our industry’s mobile workforce. Mobile apps are successful, prevalent and well received in many other industries. But I see a reluctance for construction related fleet owners to fully embrace what I see as an inevitable course of action.
Our Atom mobile app is functional on many levels. Atom has the ability to enhance efficiency within all job functions, but we are most excited about its ability to impact safety and compliance on the job site. Atom makes filling out safety checklists quick and easy and our digital signature capability timestamps approvals before work begins. Both of these promote safety and accountability during the work day, but also serve as a digital trail to reduce risk for everyone involved.
Why wait?
As fleet management teams or fleet owners, aren’t we beyond the days of excessive paper trails where monitoring falls to employees. And, from no fault of their own, can make clerical mistakes or lose documents? If an average person checks their smartphone or tablet hundreds of times a day, why not put a tool in their hand that increases efficiency, saves time, improves safety all while increasing compliance and reducing risk?