There are many things you need to know about each of your rental units. Over the years, I’ve found that if you can quickly answer the following five questions about each unit in your fleet — and identify when something’s not normal — your equipment will reward you with longer life, fewer surprises, and higher returns.

1. Where is it?
2. What is it doing?
3. How is it doing?
4. What does it need now?
5. What is it going to need?

I’ve honed this list through years of helping clients maximize the return on their fixed assets — and what’s interesting is that these same questions apply equally well to your people and your customers. When you view these questions in light of equipment, employees, and customers, they become a little bit of magic.

Before diving into the details, one important reminder: You don’t need to know the answer to every question for every unit. If you have 2,000 assets, that’s 10,000 data points — far too much to review each day. What you do need to know is which ones are not normal, and why. That’s where integrated, cross-discipline systems and analytics come in. If your ERP / Asset Management system can’t surface those exceptions, you’re almost certainly losing money unnecessarily.

1. Where is it?

Knowing the precise location of every high-value asset is critical. Telematics makes this possible and is worth the investment for that reason alone. With geofencing, you can receive alerts when a unit enters or leaves a designated area — your yard, a job site, or somewhere it shouldn’t be. You’ll know in real time where each asset is and where it’s been. The value becomes obvious the moment a unit goes missing.

2. What is it doing?

Is it working or sitting idle? Moving or parked? Telematics tells you that, too. A machine that hasn’t started in days might need attention; one that’s been running for 16 straight hours may be overworked or misused. Even better, advanced analytics can detect whether it’s being operated as intended or showing signs of abuse.

3. How is it doing?

Think of this as reading the gauges. When any metric falls outside the normal range, you need to know — ideally before it becomes a failure. Modern telematics can alert you instantly. Addressing small issues early can dramatically reduce maintenance costs and downtime.

4. What does it need now?

Beyond immediate repairs, you’ll want visibility into scheduled maintenance that’s overdue, or assets that have been idle too long and need inspection. A proactive “needs now” view keeps your fleet ready and reliable.

5. What is it going to need?

Looking ahead lets you plan efficiently. You can anticipate upcoming maintenance based on usage patterns, decide whether to service a unit on rent or wait until it returns, and make smarter dispatch or replacement decisions. If your ERP can project these needs and flag conflicts, you gain control and confidence in your planning.

The Smart Way to Manage Your Fleet

Staying on top of all this manually would take a small army. The smarter way is to leverage asset-centric systems that monitor everything for you and surface only what needs attention. Imagine a dashboard that highlights exceptions — or better yet, automatically notifies the right person to take action.

That’s what we call “Kissing Your Assets.” Because when you treat them right, they’ll treat you right in return.

Joe Lewis
CEO
Fame Rental

Fame Rental improves rental businesses and the lives of their employees and customers. We do this because we care more deeply, listen more intently, and act more methodically than anyone in the rental industry would ever expect from a software company.

Contact us at sales@fameintel.com to schedule a demo.