LOG IN, LEAD ON
Mobile Track Solutions (MTS) has always been ahead of the curve. The company’s founders were one of the first in the Midwest to use articulated dump trucks and pioneered the ejector body used on Cat® trucks in the early 2000s. Then, MTS developed construction-grade tractors specially designed to tow scrapers, disks and rollers in less-than-ideal underfoot conditions. And now, the company can add early adopter to its list of monikers, thanks to technology that makes those tractors easier to own, rent, operate and maintain.
MTS’s 3630T and 3630W tractors powered by Cat C18 industrial engines come standard with Cat Product Link™, a telematics solution that gathers engine and transmission data via a cellular connection. Tractor owners or renters can access that data — including location, hours, fuel use and diagnostic codes — by using VisionLink®, a web-based system that provides full fleet management, automated reports and custom dashboards. Both tools are simple to use, making it easy to read and interpret data.
Since 2014, every MTS tractor manufactured with a Cat engine has featured this connectivity solution. “Our major contractors expect connectivity out of a premium machine,” says Caleb Shea, MTS’s product support manager. “With the Cat solution, they can log in and see where our tractors are working and track their uptime. As they grow their fleets, it will help them manage inventory more easily.”
CLOSE CONNECTIONS, SMART SOLUTIONS
MTS’s business model is to sell and rent its products through Cat dealers, helping fill any gaps in the dealer portfolio and take advantage of the network’s unmatched support system. When it came time to adopt telematics, keeping it in the family just made sense. “Other companies offer telematics, but they require separate subscriptions,” Shea says. “Our connectivity solution is exactly the same as what someone already has for their Cat dozer or excavator. They’re already comfortable with it.”
Reports on rentals. The Cat connectivity solution is proving especially beneficial for MTS rental customers. Cat dealers who rent the 3630T and 3630W can see exactly where any tractor is located at any given time, track usage for billing purposes and identify precisely when machines need to come in for maintenance and service. Managers receive an automated report on rental unit uptime through VisionLink each week, so they can move idle tractors to more in-demand locations, if necessary.
A proactive partnership. 3630T and 3630W owners are seeing the benefits, too. In addition to tracking their own data, they can choose to share it with MTS — allowing the company to serve as a second set of eyes in case issues arise. “We’ve been able to alert customers to regeneration issues or transmission speed sensor codes that are usually a precursor to clutch slippage before they cause a failure or downtime,” Shea says. Some customers are even using the data to start conversations with dealers about uptime guarantees.
The inside track. Internally, MTS is using connectivity to improve its next generation of products. Through a joint project with Caterpillar, the company is gathering transmission data from about a dozen tractors in the field. “Before, we’d attach a box to the machine. The operator would know what we were doing and might change his behavior as result,” Shea says. “Now, we can just flash a software file to the machine and capture data from a real operating experience. That should help us improve the transmission lifespan on our tractors.”
“OUR MAJOR CONTRACTORS EXPECT CONNECTIVITY OUT OF A PREMIUM MACHINE. WITH THE CAT SOLUTION, THEY CAN LOG IN AND SEE WHERE OUR TRACTORS ARE WORKING AND TRACK THEIR UPTIME.”
