Construction Industry in Gridlock
July 28, 2010
We have all fallen victim to traffic congestion at one point or another. For some of us, it’s a daily occurrence. For the construction industry, it’s not only a waste of time, but also an expensive inconvenience.
According to the AGC (Associated General Contractors of America), www.agc.org, Arlington, Va., delays caused by traffic congestion cost construction firms across the United States $23 billion annually. This data comes from almost 1,200 construction firms surveyed by AGC in April and May of this year.
According to Stephen Sandherr, CEO, AGC, 93% of respondents say their daily operations were being affected by traffic congestion. At the same time, congestion costs two out of three construction companies at least one day of productivity for each worker every year. This brings the total amount of productivity lost annually to 3.7 million days in the construction industry alone.
In addition to individual worker productivity, survey respondents report that tie-ups in traffic can cost one day spent on a specific project and traffic adds at least three days onto the time spent on an average project. According to Sandherr, three out of four respondents say traffic congestion increases total costs by 1%.
“Traffic tie-ups nationwide are sapping productivity, delaying construction projects, and raising costs for construction firms of all types,” says Sandherr. “Given the hardships they are facing, the last thing contractors need is to burn time, fuel, and money stuck in traffic.”
Construction companies can work to decrease the impact of traffic congestion on their operations through route optimization. By using GPS technology, companies can see which routes are currently being affected by construction and re-route to alternative, less-congested routes.
One example of this technology comes from Telogis Inc., www.telogis.com, Aliso Viejo, Calif., which recently acquired the assets from fleet management solutions provider Remote Dynamics Inc. This acquisition will enable the company to increase its penetration into additional markets including construction.
Telogis offers solutions for GPS fleet tracking, dispatching management software, and navigation systems. One example of the benefit of GPS is the ability to plan and optimize routes, driving down transportation costs. Technology from Telogis can plan routes based on historical and realtime traffic conditions, vehicle restrictions such as bridge height and weight, and custom rules such as avoiding left-hand turns.
While it is not going to fix all the inefficiencies associated with gridlock traffic, contractors can take the dilemma into their own hands and use GPS technology to help ease some of the burdens of congestion.