Published: 14. December 2024,
Managing a mixed fleet of construction or heavy equipment often means battling fragmented data. With each OEM offering separate telematics portals, you’re left juggling logins, reports, and incompatible systems. Mixed Fleet Data Integration solves this by breaking down data silos and giving you a unified view of your machines.
As one industry publication put it, equipment managers face “numerous logins, interfaces, separate reports, and superfluous data” across their systems. In other words, critical information about your machines is trapped in data silos that don’t talk to each other. No wonder half of fleet managers say fragmented technologies and data silos are their biggest tech challenge.
Why does this matter? Without unified data, it’s hard to get a clear view of your operations. Manually pulling info from separate systems wastes time and invites errors. Fleet managers often spend hours logging into different OEM portals just to piece together basic insights, risking missed fault codes or lost optimization opportunities.
For mixed fleet managers, data fragmentation isn’t just an IT headache – it’s a daily operational problem. Here are some of the tangible impacts siloed data can have on your fleet and team:
These challenges are increasingly common as telematics adoption grows. By 2023, about 6.8 million construction machines worldwide were equipped with OEM telematics systems, a number expected to nearly double by 2028. Yet the industry has struggled to standardize or integrate this flood of data.
There is an official API standard (ISO 15143-3, often called the AEMP telematics standard), but adoption has been low. A 2022 survey found only 14% of fleets were integrating data in-house via the ISO standard. Most still resort to monitoring each brand on its own dashboards or having dealers manage the data, which means true centralized fleet visibility remains elusive for many. In fact, another study noted 50% of fleet managers cite fragmented systems and data silos as their top challenge in using technology.
Clearly, the status quo isn’t sustainable if you want to run an efficient, proactive fleet.
Picture a typical day managing a 100-piece mixed fleet. You start by logging into Manufacturer A’s portal to check half your machines and export reports. Then it’s Manufacturer B’s system for hours and fuel. A different interface, same task. Smaller OEMs might not have portals at all, so you’re digging through dealer emails.
By midday, you’ve got multiple tabs open and no single view of your fleet. This “swivel-chair” approach isn’t just tedious, it’s risky. A fault code from a Komatsu excavator could go unnoticed if you didn’t log in that day. A Caterpillar dozer might be burning fuel idling, but that data is locked in VisionLink, disconnected from your broader view.
Manually stitching this data together is time-consuming, and by the time insights are clear, it’s often too late to act. The impact extends beyond you. Maintenance planners and dispatchers also work with fragmented info, leading to miscommunication. One team might schedule service unaware another system shows higher hours.
In short, mixed fleet data silos drain productivity, create confusion, and lead to costly mistakes.
The data you need already exists, it’s just trapped in OEM systems. That’s where OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) data feeds come in. These are direct data pipelines that let you access telematics data outside the OEM’s own portal.
Most major brands, like Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, Volvo, and others, offer secure access via APIs or cloud platforms. The key to Mixed Fleet Data Integration is connecting those feeds into one centralized hub. Instead of building custom IT solutions, fleet managers now use platforms that aggregate this data automatically.
Think of it as plugging all your machines into one power strip of information. Rather than switching between dashboards, you pull each OEM feed into a single platform that normalizes and displays everything together. This unlocks the full value of the telematics data already built into your machines.
Don’t wait months for a custom integration – see how you can start centralizing mixed-fleet data via manufacturer feeds in a matter of minutes using Trackunit data feeds.
If unifying data is so beneficial, why isn’t everyone doing it already? Fleet managers often encounter a few common barriers to data integration:
Technical Complexity & IT Resources: Building a custom integration for each OEM system can be complex and costly. Many equipment departments simply don’t have the in-house IT bandwidth to develop and maintain connections to every OEM API. In the past, this meant either doing without integration or hiring third-party developers.
Incompatible Data Formats: Each manufacturer might format telematics data differently (one OEM might log engine hours one way, another uses a different timestamp or unit). Traditionally, fleet managers struggled to harmonize this information. In fact, only 14% of fleets have succeeded in standardizing data via the official ISO telematics standard, meaning the vast majority are dealing with mismatched data points.
Multiple Logins & User Interfaces: One practical barrier is simply the hassle of using many systems (and getting your team to use them). Training mechanics or analysts to navigate five different telematics websites is inefficient. Important data might go unnoticed just because someone forgot to check one of many inboxes or portals.
Long Implementation Wait Times: In the past, even if you decided to integrate data, you might wait months or years for a vendor or IT project to deliver a working solution. That’s frustrating when you need results now.
Data Ownership & Security Concerns: It’s natural to worry about who controls the data or whether sharing it might pose risks. Some fleet managers hesitate, unsure if pulling OEM data into a third-party system is allowed or secure.
By overcoming these barriers, a platform like Trackunit Manager simplifies mixed fleet management dramatically. As one construction fleet survey summarized, third-party telematics providers “replace layers of complexity with simpler technology” by funneling all incoming equipment data into a single, user-friendly system. Instead of struggling with IT integration, the fleet manager’s job shifts back to using insights – scheduling maintenance, reallocating assets, improving operations – rather than babysitting data streams.
When all your fleet’s data is unified and accessible in real time, everything improves. Mixed Fleet Data Integration gives you a complete view to make smarter, faster decisions that boost productivity and reduce costs.
Integrating data from all OEMs enables true predictive maintenance. Instead of missing warning signs hidden in siloed portals, you can catch issues early, such as engine heat trends or repeated fault codes, before they cause breakdowns. McKinsey reports that predictive maintenance can cut downtime by up to 50 percent and extend machine life by 40 percent.
With all fuel, idle time, and usage data in one place, it becomes easier to spot underused machines or high-performing models. This helps you optimize fleet size, reduce ownership costs, and improve fuel efficiency. A unified view allows you to eliminate waste and make more informed decisions.
Historical data from across your fleet supports accurate planning. You can forecast maintenance needs, budget capital expenses, and better allocate machines. Instead of reacting to issues, managers can plan based on trends and set strategy with greater confidence.
Bringing safety alerts, operator behavior, and inspection records into one platform helps enforce protocols and identify risks early. Mixed Fleet Data Integration ensures that nothing gets lost in a separate OEM system, which improves compliance and protects your workforce.
In short, Mixed Fleet Data Integration turns raw data into fleet intelligence. When your systems communicate with each other, your machines operate more efficiently and your bottom line improves.
The problem with mixed fleet data is simple: scattered information leads to scattered results. But it does not have to stay that way. With tools that centralize and standardize equipment data, fleet managers can bring order to the chaos.
Imagine starting each day with one dashboard showing every machine’s status, alerts, and performance, no matter the brand. You can prioritize repairs, shift resources, and communicate using real-time data. No more forgotten logins or siloed spreadsheets. Just one clear view of your fleet’s health and productivity.
This vision is possible today through OEM data feeds and integrated platforms. Mixed Fleet Data Integration gives fleet managers the visibility to reduce downtime, improve planning, and boost ROI. Instead of chasing data, they are acting on it.
Unified fleet data is not just a convenience. It enables better decisions across the board. When data from every machine flows into one system, you gain the insight to optimize operations and the confidence to plan ahead. That is the power of Mixed Fleet Data Integration—more uptime, fewer surprises, and smarter business decisions.
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