Best GPS Tracking Apps for Mining Crew Management in 2024
Samson Kiarie
Last update on:
April 18, 2024 1:48 AM
Published on:
Mining businesses rely heavily on the efficiency of equipment and crew members. A calculated change, such as ensuring equipment and employees are where they need to be can bring notable improvement to your bottom line. One of the best ways to monitor mining crew and equipment is to use GPS for mining.
GPS tracking apps for mining don’t require you to invest in transponders and other expensive equipment. Instead, you can use mining crew smartphones to monitor activities in the mining field. Sadly, the mining industry isn’t renowned for technological innovation, so few primarily GPS tracking software systems for mining exist.
Luckily, we tested various GPS tracking apps and narrowed the list down to the five best GPS tracking solutions for mining businesses. Read on to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each one to make an informed decision.
Improve your mining crew management with first-rate GPS tracking.
Whether you’re looking for a GPS app to enhance employee tracking, crew safety, equipment visibility, or fleet management, we’ve got you covered here. Our list has an app that meets your needs and preferences. Read on to learn all the details and make an informed choice.
Timeero: Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Safety in Mining Operations
Timeero is an easy-to-use GPS tracking software for mining businesses looking to control labor costs, lower fuel costs, and minimize equipment theft and misuse. You don’t have to invest in expensive gadgets to reap the benefits. Timeero uses employee iOS and Android smartphones, and the web app to streamline the mining workflow.
Here’s how Timeero helps mining businesses:
Time Tracking
Timeero Android and iOS apps are easy to use.
Labor costs account for 33% of total expenses in a mining site. If you fail to control labor costs, they can quickly blow through the roof and eat away at your company’s profitability.
Timeero enables you to track mining crew hours accurately using Android or iOS smartphones.
The app is so easy to use that even the non-tech-savvy miners figure it out quickly. The web portal offers a flat learning curve for site managers and admins to configure relevant features.
One of the vital time-tracking features is the geofence time clock. Timeero allows you to set geofences or virtual boundaries around your mining sites or processing plants to monitor employee activities. Geofences help thwart off-site punching, a time theft tactic that can cause your mining company to bleed money.
Additionally, Timeero supports facial recognition to prevent buddy punching. The tool takes employees’ photos and compares them to their profiles as they clock in. In case of a mismatch, it notifies the site manager and flags the employee’s time entry for further investigations.
Employee Location Tracking
The labor-intensive nature of the mining industry makes your mining crew indispensable. You must track their location and activities to improve operational efficiency, safety, and productivity.
Timeero GPS location tracking lets you maintain a 360-degree view of your mining crew’s whereabouts. The “Who’s working” tab provides a live map displaying the real-time location of each worker.
Monitoring employee location instills accountability throughout the workforce, as each member is obligated to be in the right place at the right time. This can spur increased productivity.
Timeero’s “Who’s Working” dashboard displays the real-time location of all mining workers.
However, tracking miners isn’t just about boosting operational efficiency, it also helps improve safety. Suppose a vehicle operator picks mined materials, suddenly stops along the way, and stays stationary for a suspiciously long time. The transport or security manager can reach out to know why they stopped.
If the operator needs help, the manager can quickly pinpoint the most proximate company vehicle and request the driver to navigate to where help is needed. Swift response minimizes vehicle idle time and downtime to keep operation ticking along flawlessly.
Location tracking is also helpful when moving expensive mining equipment through dangerous areas. It helps keep an eye on the convoy every step of the journey and provides navigation assistance where necessary.
Machine and Equipment Tracking
Machine and equipment theft can harm mining operations. For example, operations will halt if a loader is stolen from an open gold mine. You’ll have to turn off the wash plant, and all idle time causes a staggering loss for your company.
Timeero doesn’t use transponders or GPS tracking tools to monitor equipment. Instead, it relies on the mobile phone app of the machine operator. For example, the real-time location of a loader operator hints you about the whereabouts of the loader during work hours.
If you spot a machine operator moving away from the mining site, that should cause an alarm. You should contact the operator and site manager to clarify the movement. This may sound simple, but it goes a long way toward minimizing equipment loss and theft.
Mileage Tracking
The Timeero segmented tracking feature helps you monitor the movement of your fleet vehicles.
Timeero enables you to track mileage and monitor related expenses during various phases of the mining process. For example, if you need to dispatch a team for exploration and evaluation of a potential mining field, tracking mileage helps monitor their travel expenses.
The story is the same when moving mining equipment to various sites. Besides monitoring expenses, tracking mileage helps reduce taxable income. According to the latest IRS mileage rates, every business mile you track reduces your taxable income by 67 cents.
In addition, tracking mileage can also help monitor fuel consumption on-site. Statistics show that fuel costs account for 20% of operational expenses at a mining site. One of the best ways to control fuel costs is to track consumption against predefined benchmarks.
A benchmark can be 100 liters/1000 miles per tipper truck. In this case, you must track fuel consumption against mileage to control fuel costs. This accentuates the need to track mileage for mining vehicles accurately.
Other features like route replay and segmented tracking enable you to monitor operators’ driving behavior. For example, with the route replay, you can zoom in to see a vehicle’s speed or track the number of stops a tipper made between the mining site and the processing plant using the segmented tracking feature.
Other Key Features:
Employee scheduling
California break tracker
Suggested mileage
Signatures
Time off tracking
Message blast
Timeero offers a 14-day free trial, which you can use to get a first-hand feel for GPS tracking tools for miners. Paid plans are affordable with no base price: the basic plan costs 4$ per user per month.
busybusy: Enhanced Equipment Management and Theft Prevention for Mining Sites
Busybusy is one of the best equipment and fleet management solutions.
Busybusy is another GPS tracking app for mining businesses looking to track time, employee, and equipment location. Like Timeero, the busybusy time tracker is easy to use and supports geofenced clock in and out on paid plans to curb off-site punching.
With busybusy you can create geofenced mining sites and activate the “require on-site clock-in” option. When using these features, miners must be within the designated job site to clock in. This goes a long way towards improving the accuracy of crew timesheets.
busybusy’s functionality supports photo verification. The app is able to take photos of employees as they clock in and compare them with their profiles. However, the app doesn’t notify the site manager in case of a mismatch. You must generate a photo verification report to see the number of failed matches and catch the buddy punchers.
Track Mining Equipment With Ease
Equipment tracking is busybusy’s biggest perk for mining businesses. The app has a unique way to eliminate equipment theft and misuse at a mining site.
When machine and equipment operators clock in, busybusy requires them to specify the machine they will use that day. The app tracks the operator’s real-time location and logs specific hour meter readings for their machines.
At any time of the day, you can open the live map to see where the operators are. The map gives you crucial information, such as operators within or outside of the mining site. Learn more about app functions in a full busybusy review.
Other Key Features:
GPS location tracking
Employee scheduling
Asset tracking
Job costing
Project budget tracking
PTO tracking
Offline mode
busybusy Pricing: Free plan, paid plan pricing starts at $9.99 per user per month billed annually.
busybusy Integrations: QuickBooks Desktop, Sage, Procore, ADP, Foundation Software, and Viewpoint.
FleetUp: Fleet Tracking for Maximizing Mining Equipment Utilization
FleetUp is an end-to-end solution for businesses that want to improve fleet tracking. It can track employee hours and automate payroll, but these aren’t its strong points.
Some tasks may require investing in asset trackers, AI dashcams, telematics, and ELD devices besides the FleetUp cloud-based monitoring system.
Manage Mining Equipment With Ease
FleetUp geofencing helps monitor vehicle movement in and out of the mining site.
As mentioned, FleetUp comes into its element when tracking and managing mining equipment. Through a combination of GPS tracking devices and a cloud-based solution, FleetUp lets you monitor every asset’s location in real-time.
Whether you want to track generators, shuttle cars, derricks, excavators, tipper trucks, or rotary drills, FleetUp is equal to the task. The asset tracker sends location details every ten seconds, enabling you to see where each piece of equipment is.
You can also tell which vehicle or equipment is idling or in transit. Plus, geofencing lets you easily monitor equipment movement in and out of mining sites. It also provides mining site monitoring tools, such as speeding alerts to ensure driver safety.
FleetUp’s unique feature tracks engine health and alerts your mechanics whenever any vehicle requires care. This helps keep each vehicle in prime condition for maximum efficiency and productivity.
Other Key Features:
Trip reporting
Engine diagnostic
Driver behavior monitoring
Remote maintenance monitoring
Compliance
FleetUp pricing: There are four plans, Standard, Compliance, Advanced, and Professional each available on a quote-based pricing model.
FleetUp integrations: Native API, Salesforce, QuickBooks, monday.com, and HubSpot.
Fleet Stack: Real-Time Fleet and Asset Tracking for Efficient Mining Material Transport
FleetStack is another reliable fleet management software for mining businesses that want to manage and optimize their fleet. The system comprises a self-hosted solution and easy-to-use Android and iOS apps.
Unfortunately, the self-hosted admin console can be difficult to install and may require the hand of a tech wizard to get it up and running.
Track Mining Equipment And Assets
Fleet Stack supports geofencing automation.
FleetStack geofences work best for mining companies transporting mined materials to another processing area. A great example of this would be a limestone mining company that takes their rock and other mined products to the factory for processing and packaging.
In this mining situtationyou can create geofences around the mines and the factory. The geofence can be a line, square, polygon, or circle, whichever covers your areas perfectly. FleetStack sends real-time alerts when a fleet vehicle enters or exits a geofenced location. You can tell when a tipper truck leaves the mine and when it reaches the factory.
The live map aids in real-time equipment tracking. It shows you the total number of tracked vehicles and their current location. You can click on a vehicle to zoom in on details such as speed, distance covered, status, number, and operator.
The replay and history data make it easy to monitor vehicle activity further. For example, with the replay, you can see when and where a vehicle stopped. You also can click on the stops to see when the vehicle stopped and for how long.
Other Key Features:
Route optimization
Route planning
Asset management
Dashcam
Equipment preventative maintenance monitoring
Emergency response
Safety enhancement
Material tracking
Environmental and regulatory compliance
FleetStack pricing: FleetStack has a quote-based pricing model. Contact the provider for custom pricing.
FleetStack integrations: REST API
FleetWare: Streamlined Fleet Management with Advanced GPS and Telematics in Mining
Fleetware combines a GPS tracking system and telematics to optimize mining operations. The tracking solution called Trackd provides the functionality for optimizing vehicle tracking, fleet management, and asset utilization to boost profitability.
Improve Fleet Management With GPS and Telematics
FleetWare enables you to track the location of your mining equipment and vehicles from a centralized dashboard.
Like the rest of the pack, Fleetware supports geofences but lets you create geofence groups. The geofence can be a line, circle, or polygon. You can use different colors to depict various mining sites.
Regarding geofencing automation, you can set Fleetware to alert you when equipment leaves a designated mining site. This makes it ideal for tracking equipment to deter theft, loss, and
misuse.
The app also lets you monitor employee and equipment movement in real time through the monitoring tab. When you open the tab, you’ll see the current location of your equipment and vehicles. You can select a vehicle to see its speed, ignition status, and heading.
Fleetware also supports maintenance monitoring. Besides monitoring vehicle engine hours, it scans for real-time issues. It alerts you when a vehicle is due for maintenance. In unison with telematics solutions, the mobile app helps monitor fuel consumption rates. If you notice a rapid increase in fuel consumption, you can monitor the vehicle’s speed or operator’s behavior to get to the bottom of the problem.
Other Key Features:
Out-of-cellular tracking
AI-enabled dashcams
Tyre pressure monitoring
Fleetware pricing: Fleetware has a quote-based pricing model. Contact the provider for custom pricing.
Fleetware integrations: 360 Driver, Telematics Guru
How Do Miners Use GPS?
Miners use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for employee tracking, asset visibility, employee safety, and fleet management. Machines, equipment, and workers are at the helm of operations at every mine site. For operations to run smoothly, these three factors must be in the right place, doing the right job at the right time.
GPS enables mining companies to track equipment and ensure each asset is where it needs to be for flawless workflow. It provides asset tracking and visibility, which goes a long way toward enhancing operational coordination while preventing process bottlenecks.
GPS technology gives managers the precise location of each crew member. This key feature enhances on-site safety amidst the many hazards in a mining site. Not to mention that tracking employee location can catalyze increased employee productivity and efficiency.
Pick The Best GPS Tracker for Your Mining Company
Using GPS for mining is a giant leap toward operational efficiency, cost-cutting, and increased profitability. However, you must choose the right software based on your needs and preferences to achieve these goals.
Timeero meets the needs of many mining businesses. If you want a tool that minimizes mining operation expenses, Timeero checks the right boxes. It helps manage various aspects of a mining business, from time tracking and GPS location tracking to mileage and equipment tracking.
Start a 14-day free trial today to get a first-hand feel for the time, location, equipment, and mileage tracking tools. No credit card is required. Just create your account, and you’re good to go.
GPS Tracking Solution For Mining: FAQs
What is the Best GPS Tracking App For Mining Companies?
Timeero is the best GS tracking app for mining companies, thanks to its accurate GPS location tracking tools. It also offers time, equipment, and mileage tracking features.
How Can a GPS Be Used For Mining?
A GPS can be used to streamline mining operations. It helps track vehicles, employees, and other equipment, ensuring they are where they are needed to be at the right time. This improves process efficiency and leads to greater profitability.
Looking for the Best GPS Tracker App to Manage Your Mining Crew?
Samson is a mathematician turned content marketer specializing in SaaS and Tech content. He focuses on the practical aspects of software systems while keeping abreast of the industry’s cutting-edge principles to create informative and engaging content. When he’s not writing, Samson spends time playing or watching soccer.
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