Many aspects of our daily lives have changed since the pandemic began- both pros and cons. We have seen curbside pickup, remote work, and virtual meetings grow in popularity. On the other hand, some changes have led to disadvantages in the supply chain. The pandemic led to fewer workers and assets in the agriculture industry, causing shipping delays and increasing supply costs.
Why Agricultural Operations?
The food you eat every day had to go through a variety of different equipment, trailers, and trucks for it to end up on your table:
- Crops are placed in tractor-trailers and placed in an export elevator
- Crops get added to a rail car or barge and transported along inland waterways.
- Crops arrive at their destination ports and harbors, where they are loaded onto ships and sailed away to their final destination.
Fun Fact: 50 percent of all soybeans grown in the US get exported.
The crops would not be available for distribution if not for the assets: seeders, sprayers, and utility trailers- all responsible for operating the agriculture industry. With these assets being the backbone of agriculture, tracking them can ensure operations are at their fullest potential to eliminate delays.
Asset tracking to the rescue
Tracking every truck, trailer, and rail car along their route is a great way to help repair the supply chain. Asset tracking allows organizations to keep track of their crops while in transport and adjust any routes when necessary to avoid delays. With so many transportation methods in the agriculture industry, tracking assets is impossible without the correct solution.
Where the find the right solution
AssetWorks Field Service Solutions (FSS) offers a GPS/Telematics solution so fleets can view the current location of their vehicles on a real-time map. Our telematics solution does more than just track assets and ensures there are no reasons for delays:
- Maintenance: Maintenance issues are a common way for crops to get delayed in their transport. AssetWorks’ telematics software alerts when service is due, so vehicle repairs get done before travel.
- Driver Behavior:Â Accidents can cause delays- especially when it involves a fleet driver. The best way to avoid accidents from occurring to your team is to ensure drivers are operating vehicles in a way that follows company policy. AssetWorks FSS sends real-time alerts when drivers are not practicing safe behavior, so it can get addressed before it becomes an issue.
