Dive Summary:

• Telematics – sending data from job sites to office computers – are like being able to put a note-taker on every truck in a construction fleet and giving them phones to report in to headquarters.
• As electronics firms and equipment manufacturers embrace the idea, it is becoming possible to monitor whether machines are idling or moving, how fluid levels are in their engines and how close they are getting to needing preventive maintenance.
• The addition of GPS data to track machine locations and report them is one feature of a second generation of telematics that is being put in place now.

From the article:

To better manage equipment fleets and cut costs, contractors are increasingly using telematics technology, which blends on-board instrumentation and Internet computing. ...