How Telematics Is Driving the Digitalisation of Mining Fleet Management in Indonesia

The use of telematics has the potential to dramatically increase the productivity of fleet operations at mine sites. Mining operators will have access to a wide variety of data related to fleet activity, which can be used to identify critical areas for improvement.

On the other hand, increasing productivity is also an urgent need for the mining industry—given its vital contribution to the Indonesian economy, accounting for around 60% of total exports. This confluence of supply and demand has driven the trend of digitalising mining fleet management in Indonesia.

Comprehensive visibility that is irreplaceable by manual fleet management

Vehicle-mounted GPS tracking devices enhance operational visibility, enabling companies to monitor activity at mine sites. This visibility includes the time, duration, and location of various vehicle activities; trip history; and driving behaviour. With increased visibility, mining fleet management becomes more efficient. There is no longer any time wasted manually confirming vehicle locations and operating times, as all data is automatically recorded accurately and in detail.

Here's how increased visibility through telematics can drive the digitalisation of mining fleet management:

• Displays vehicle location and activity in real-time, accessible from both the mobile app and the website, anytime and anywhere. Managers can assess the productivity of each vehicle operator and ensure efficient vehicle use and minimise wasted time.
• Receive various types of important alerts while the vehicle is operating, such as entering and leaving a geofence, risky driving behaviour (speeding, harsh acceleration, hard braking, and sharp turns), vehicle idling, and use outside operating hours.
• Provides trip history data for each vehicle, complete with information on speed, distance travelled, driving time, stop duration and location, idle location and duration, etc. Trip history can be replayed on a map, for a visual representation of the path taken by the vehicle. This certainly makes it easier for managers to evaluate route efficiency and route completion performance.

Occupational safety and security are monitored automatically

Proactive efforts are needed to create a safe working environment for mine workers. Vehicle telematics provides information, assessments, and trends in driver behaviour. With this data, along with alerts for several parameters of aggressive driving behaviour, supervisors can identify risks and act before problems arise. For seatbelt use detection, integrate the vehicle's CAN Bus into the tracking system, or install a power take-off (PTO) sensor if the vehicle does not have a CAN Bus system.

Additional camera features can also help visually identify situations in any aggressive driving incident. Cartrack's Smart Cabin camera, for example, automatically records video when a strong jolt occurs, the driver is tired or distracted, speeding, and several other triggering events. The driver will receive an audible warning when the incident occurs. The Smart Cabin camera records from two camera angles, one facing the road and the other facing the driver's cabin. Supervisors can view the footage to verify whether the triggering event is indeed a driving safety violation.

Vehicle telematics can not only monitor driving behaviour, but also monitor when the vehicle enters a restricted area you define using the geofence feature. For additional driver protection, you can install a panic button. In the event of an emergency, the driver can send a signal to a supervisor by pressing the panic button.

With these advanced features, telematics is driving the digitalisation of occupational safety and security monitoring in mining areas. Here are some occupational safety parameters that can be automatically monitored using telematics:

• Aggressive driving behaviour: excessive speed, hard braking, harsh acceleration, and sharp cornering (driving behaviour monitoring feature)
• Seat belt use (CAN Bus sensor or sensor PTO feature)
• Entering a prohibited or dangerous area (geofence feature)
• Safe distance (AI technology camera feature)
• Driver is tired or distracted (AI-enabled camera feature)
• Shake (AI technology camera feature)
• Emergency (panic button feature or AI-enabled camera)

The digitalisation of mining fleet management in Indonesia is inevitable. Telematics in the form of IoT devices (GPS trackers, PTO sensors, CAN Bus sensors, panic buttons, vehicle-specific cameras, etc.) and fleet management platforms (mobile applications and cloud-based software) are driving the progress of the mining business in the digital era. With the right strategy and implementation, telematics can be a solution to the productivity, visibility, efficiency, and safety challenges facing the mining industry in Indonesia.

Want to start digitising your mining fleet management? Message us here and get a live demo from the Cartrack team.