Europe’s Boels Rental to Implement JLG’s ClearSky Telematics System
Boels Rental, based in The Netherlands, is the first equipment rental company in Europe to implement JLG’s ClearSky fleet management system on a large scale, JLG said. In March, the first batch of 740 new machines will be equipped with the ClearSky CAN hardware that provides real-time insight into a wealth of user data. This will allow Boels Rental to optimally monitor and maintain its new fleet of aerial work platforms, telehandlers and other machines.
The ClearSky software provides insight into machine information such as hours of utilization, location, fuel and battery levels and scheduled maintenance. The data is integrated in the ERP software of Boels Rental and will be the basis for multi-year maintenance plans. All data is sent from a secure JLG data center to every desired Boels location, and can be accessed in real time from desktops and mobile devices. Besides strategic fleet management, ClearSky also enables Boels Rental to respond quickly to any technical faults or other issues requiring immediate attention. The ClearSky software automatically keeps track of error codes and other alerts and sends them directly by SMS text and e-mail.
“At Boels Rental, we are constantly looking for new ways to improve our customer service and like to explore new technological avenues to achieve this,” said Guy Cremer, director of fleet operations at Boels Rental. “The fact that we are the first to work with ClearSky gives us the opportunity to further differentiate ourselves in the rental market. The benefits for our customers are quite substantial. They will notice that issues will be solved faster because we no longer have to be on location to offer support, but can do so remotely. Based on utilization time analyses, customers will be much better equipped to plan large future projects, a more efficient application means that fewer machines will be needed on each project, which in turn leads to a reduced CO2 footprint.”
“We are very proud that a prominent company like Boels Rental is embracing our solution,” said Karel Huigser, JLG general manager and vice president, EMEA. “The partnership with Boels Rental is incredibly important for JLG and proves that there is a demand for the innovation and efficiency we can offer with ClearSky, both to our customers and users of the equipment.”
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.