Trimble and Caterpillar to Offer Connected On-Highway Telematics Solutions

Trimble and Caterpillar Inc. have announced they are partnering to bring on-highway telematics to construction operations. The collaboration extends Caterpillar's CAT Connect solutions to include Trimble's real-time, truck fleet visibility and monitoring capabilities to now enable both on-highway and off-highway fleet management.

The announcement was made at CONEXPO 2017, one of the world's largest international exhibitions for the construction industry.

The field-proven on-highway solutions and services from Trimble will be part of the CAT Connect telematics portfolio, which also includes the VisionLink fleet, asset and site productivity management solution for construction operations. Developed by Virtual Site Solutions (VSS), a Trimble Caterpillar joint venture, VisionLink provides a centralized, collective view of all machines and their contribution to overall productivity across an organization and jobsites for both Caterpillar equipment and mixed fleets.

Through this collaboration, construction companies will further benefit by seeing their entire truck fleet and equipment assets in a single view using VisionLink to gain deeper insight into their overall operations. The on-highway solutions bridge a technology gap and provide a comprehensive set of optimized services to improve productivity, lower operating costs and increase safety and compliance. Applications include fuel management, vehicle health and diagnostics, driver safety as well as hours of service and vehicle inspections to comply with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requirements for electronic logging devices (ELD).

"The CAT Connect vision enables customers to see and manage all of their operational assets and equipment from a single application. By offering Trimble's on-highway solutions, connected to VisionLink, Caterpillar can further deliver on our vision," says John Carpenter, Construction Digital & Technology, Caterpillar. "Trimble's successful track record of working with both on-highway and off-highway customers, along with our long-term joint venture, allows us to bring these technologies and services to our customers today. By working in tandem with Trimble, we're giving our customers the ability to connect, visualize and monitor their entire operations—whether it's Caterpillar or a mixed fleet."

"By visualizing how a complete off-highway and on-highway fleet are being used, there are opportunities to maximize efficiency in more aspects of their operations," says John Cameron, General Manager of Trimble's Field Service Management Division. "Partnering with Caterpillar and leveraging their global distribution channel demonstrates our mutual commitment to provide construction organizations with complete visibility from the jobsite to the streets. As a result, construction operations can leverage accurate production and fleet data to optimize productivity, lower operating costs and increase safety and compliance."

The on-highway solutions are expected to be available from CAT dealers in March of 2017.