Equipment Rental Telematics
Fuel control, usage tracking and battery protection for rented machinery — from aerial platforms to construction equipment
Fuel level on return
Operating hours tracking
Battery drain prevention
GPS location and geofencing
Unauthorised use detection
The challenge
Equipment rental companies face a specific set of problems that standard fleet telematics doesn’t fully address. When a machine leaves the yard, it’s in the hands of the renter — and what happens to it during that period is often unknown until it comes back.
Fuel disputes on return are one of the most common sources of conflict between rental companies and their customers. Without an accurate fuel level reading at the moment of collection and return, there is no objective basis for a claim. Full-to-full policies rely on trust. Trust is expensive.
Operating hours are equally important: rental billing is typically based on machine hours, and without an independent record from the machine itself, discrepancies between billed and actual hours are difficult to resolve. On longer rentals, machines are often used beyond agreed terms or taken outside agreed geographic limits without the rental company’s knowledge.
Finally, battery drain is a persistent technical problem. Telematics units, GPS trackers and other onboard systems consume power continuously. A machine that sits unused for several days with electronics running can return with a flat battery — requiring service before the next rental. The S6 PT-01 Power Timer is designed specifically for this: it cuts power to onboard electronics after a configurable idle period, protecting the battery without disabling essential functions.
What the system monitors
- Fuel level at collection and at return — precise volume in litres
- Fuel consumption during the rental period
- Refueling events: volume, location, time
- Fuel drain or siphoning detection
- Total engine operating hours — independent record on the machine
- Operating time per day and per rental period
- Engine start and stop events with timestamps
- Onboard voltage monitoring
- Automatic power cutoff after configurable idle time (S6 PT-01)
- Prevention of battery drain during storage and transport
- Engine start count
- GPS position and movement history
- Geofence exit alerts — machine leaves allowed area
- Speeding or misuse detection
- CAN bus data where available (engine hours, fault codes)
The fuel dispute problem — solved
Objective fuel records at handover
The DUT-E fuel level sensor provides an accurate fuel volume reading at any moment — not a float estimate, but a calibrated measurement in litres. When a machine is collected by the renter, the system records the exact fuel level. When it returns, the same data is available. Any discrepancy is documented objectively, with timestamp and GPS location.
This eliminates the most common source of rental disputes without requiring any manual fuel checks or paperwork at the yard.
Remote monitoring throughout the rental
During the rental period, the fleet manager can see fuel level, GPS location and engine hours for every machine in real time. If a machine is used outside agreed hours, taken outside the agreed geographic area, or shows a sudden unexplained drop in fuel level, an alert is triggered immediately — not discovered at return.
Battery drain — the hidden rental cost
S6 PT-01 Power Timer — designed for rental
The S6 PT-01 Power Timer solves the battery drain problem at the source. It monitors onboard voltage and automatically cuts power to the telematics unit and other connected electronics after a configurable period of engine-off idle time. When the engine starts again, power is restored automatically.
The result: machines return from rental — or come back from weeks in storage — with healthy batteries, ready for the next job without a service call.
How it installs
The S6 PT-01 connects between the vehicle’s power supply and the onboard electronics. It requires no CAN connection and works with any telematics unit or GPS tracker. Configuration is done via CAN interface. It is compatible with all machine types — aerial platforms, mini excavators, generators, compressors, forklifts, and any other battery-powered equipment in the rental fleet.
Operating hours and machine utilisation
Independent hour meter
Rental billing based on machine hours requires a tamper-resistant, independent record. The telematics system records every engine start and stop event with timestamp and GPS coordinates. This gives a complete operating log for each rental period — verifiable, exportable, and independent of the machine’s own hour meter which can be reset or manipulated.
Utilisation data for smarter fleet management
Across the full rental fleet, operating hours data shows which machines are heavily used and which are underutilised. This informs maintenance scheduling (based on actual hours, not calendar time), purchasing decisions (which machine types to add to the fleet), and pricing strategy (which equipment commands premium rates due to high demand).
Hardware compatibility
Applicable equipment types
The system works on any battery-powered machinery regardless of make, model or age:
- Aerial work platforms (scissors, booms, mast climbers)
- Mini excavators and compact loaders
- Diesel generators and compressors
- Forklifts and telehandlers
- Road-building equipment (plates, rollers, cutters)
- Lighting towers
- Pumps and power tools with onboard engines
No GPS platform dependency
Wagencontrol hardware transmits data via standard interfaces compatible with any existing GPS tracking or rental management platform. There is no requirement to switch platforms or purchase new software. The sensors and the Power Timer integrate with whatever system is already in use at the rental company.
