Yard Asset Management Software: Know Where Every Rental Unit Is

What is yard asset management in a rental yard?

Yard asset management is knowing where each unit is and when it was last reported. Rental yard software keeps the contract. It knows who has a unit, for how long and at what rate. On its own, the contract says where a unit should be, not where it is.

That gap shows up in everyday rental yard management. A customer calls a unit off-rent: is it still on the job, or already back on the lot?

Where does rental yard software get its locations?

From a tracker on each unit. Rental platforms can show a location when a GPS or telematics feed sends one in. The software can only show what a tracker reports.

A GPS tracker needs power and a data plan for every unit. So tracking was kept for the most expensive machines, the ones with an engine to power it. Trailers, attachments and smaller tools went without.

A crowdsourced tag makes tracking practical on the rest of the fleet. It needs no wiring and no data plan, so it can go on every unit that leaves the yard.

Yard asset management with crowdsourced tags

A crowdsourced tag broadcasts a Bluetooth signal, and any phone that passes reports where it heard the tag. These networks are large (Apple counts over a billion iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, and Google over a billion Android devices).

Its battery lasts up to six years, depending on its size. That suits units that sit parked between rentals, with nothing to charge. The two larger tags are sealed to IP68 for units that live outside.

Draw a geofence around the yard, and each unit's exits and entries are dated against it. The how to create a geofence guide covers drawing one around a yard.

How do you check a return or an off-rent unit?

Check the map as well as the contract. The contract says a unit is out or back. The tag's last report shows where it is, and when that report came in.

Set an exit and an entry alert on the yard geofence. Each alert carries the time of the unit's first report on the other side of the geofence. A return often shows before anyone checks it in.

When a customer calls a unit off-rent, look it up on the map before the driver leaves. If its last report is at a different site, call the customer first.

If the unit is past its return date instead, the rental equipment tracking guide covers catching overdue rentals early.

How do locations get into your rental software?

Through an API, webhooks or a spreadsheet export. Webhooks post each entry and exit when the report comes in. The API lets your rental, fleet or ERP software ask for locations when it needs them. A spreadsheet export works with any system that imports a file.

Each export row carries the unit's name, its position and the time of the report, so it can land on the matching unit record. The data export and API guide lists the columns in each export.

When you compare rental software, ask whether it accepts an API call, a webhook or a file import, and which field holds the unit number. The same questions apply whether you run Point of Rental, Alert Rental, MTR or Quipli, or are looking at an alternative.

Yard counts across one yard or several branches

Start a yard count from the map. It shows which tagged units last reported in the yard and which are out. Export the list as a spreadsheet and check only the units it places in the yard.

Several branches work the same way. Draw one geofence per branch, and every branch shows on one dashboard. Each colleague signs in with their own login and sees the same units.

For a lot full of trailers, the trailer tracking system guide covers yard audits without walking every row.

What to expect from tags in a rental yard

A crowdsourced tag keeps a dated location record for every tagged unit. Each reported crossing of the yard geofence adds an entry or exit time.

• Updates come from passing phones. Any phone that passes reports the tag. A busy yard or job site updates all day. A remote job site updates less often, and a unit on its way back is reported again as it passes people.
• Building-level position. The position comes from the phone that heard the tag. It gets you to the right yard or job site, and the unit number does the rest.
• Location, not engine data. A tag reports where a unit is and when each report came in. Engine hours and meter readings come from the machine or the check-in.
• Where, not who. A tag shows where a unit is, not who moved it. The contract shows who has it.