Monitor Power Take off Usage
We offer a wide variety of GPS Trackers that can handle PTO and Aux Input monitoring. The combination of these technologies enables the user to know when and where the PTO is being used. This makes it easier to track runtime and usage.
PTO - Power Take Off or PTO is a method to take power from a running engine and transmitting it to another attached implement such as a water pump on a water truck, a vacuum blower on a cement truck, dump truck lift bed, a crane or tow truck hoist, a winch on a fire truck or even a compactor on a garbage truck. In a many cases, the truck's engine output is transferred to a hydraulic pump and the hydraulics are then used to drive the attached equipment.
Capturing the Vehicle PTO Usage
Monitoring is accomplished by wiring the car or trucks PTO controls into the GPS Tracker. Often times, this is accomplished with the use of a relay. But many of the newer gps tracking devices have inputs that can be directly connected to an indicator light or control switch in the vehicle. Give Sales a call and we can evaluate if any additional hardware is needed in your application. 
Auxiliary Input Monitoring
Today's tracking devices are pretty sophisticated. Current devices can distinguish and track up to two inputs. For example, on a police car, one input could be used to monitor lights and another could monitor the siren. In general terms, one can monitor the truck's dome light, while the other input could be used to monitor the attached equipment run state. Rest assured - you can monitor only one input if that's your preferred solution.
GPS Tracker Device Data
Now that GPS tracker is wired into the vehicle's PTO system, the tracking device will report to our server when the PTO state changes, really when the voltage changes. The data reported to our server will include the car or truck location data (latitude, longitude, speed, direction), time of day and ignition state. We'll analyze it and save it into our database.
Reporting, Monitoring and Analytics
The usage of the vehicle& PTO / Auxiliary Input can be monitored a couple of ways in our tracking system. Optional monitoring alerts can be activated to send an email whenever the PTO changes state. Our interactive maps can be reviewed to examine the truck or car's location and pto state. For a more historical perspective, we have a full slate of reports to show PTO usage. This is includes the basic where was PTO used or the more complex, how long was the vehicle idling why PTO was in use.
Benefits of Monitoring Power Take Off Usage
- Tell you if the equipment or truck is being used on unapproved weekend or side jobs.
- Collect runtime data for vehicle engine maintenance.
- Supporting data when customer disputes performed work.