HCSS is a construction software suite. It includes functionality for bidding, time card and project management, safety, planning, scheduling, equipment management, and data warehousing and reporting. Each module can be purchased separately. The suite can be hosted in the cloud.
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Motive
Score 9.0 out of 10
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Motive builds technology to improve the safety, productivity, and profitability of businesses that power the physical economy. The Motive Automated Operations Platform combines IoT hardware with AI-powered applications to automate vehicle and equipment tracking, driver safety, compliance, maintenance, spend management, and more. Motive serves more than 120,000 businesses across industries, including trucking and logistics, construction, oil and gas, food and beverage, field service, agriculture,…
Our operation uses several pieces of what we call specialty equipment (not used every day on every job). The foreman when finished will give a location of where this equipment is left, this many times can be very vague and lead to a lowboy driver trying to block around to find the piece or driving down a street he cannot get turned around in. With the GPS devices, the driver can pinpoint exactly where the unit is and if he has room to turn around at that location.
This software is kept in my pocket at all times. I can access the dashboard right from my phone using the app. If a driver calls needing help I can help anywhere. The product is so easy to use that not much training is needed. Our team is able to pick up the app or jump on the dashboard and go.
#1 is support! HCSS is by far the best software support of any product we have ever used. Unlike most software companies HCSS utilizes their support calls to help upgrade their software. When you here them tell you that they will write down a particular issue you come across during a support call if they can't help you then and there they will research and get an answer to you extremely fast. If the software will not do it, you can bet there is a good chance it will be on the list of enhancements you will see come out in the near future.
Estimating software is very extensive. Their software is capable of handling the smallest estimate all the way to the largest joint venture estimate. It has advanced features that make it extremely useful for analyzing job materials, subcontractors etc.
HeavyJob is an extremely useful tool for the field to keep the office up to date with job costs. Everything is at the Foreman's fingertips on Tablets to allow the information from the field to get uploaded to HeavyJob manager which then can export to accounting. We are also able to give our Foreman the ability to deal with the Daily and weekly safety needs (Tailgate Meetings, incident Investigation, observations etc.) right on the Tablets thru HeavyJob.
All their apps are on mobile devices. Although there is not a clear company policy on Android versus iPhone. Updates for features lag behind on Android. Some apps are exclusive to one platform making it hard to fully interconnect all programs.
One of the features I find frustrating to use is adjusting speed limits. Sure, when someone breaks a speed limit and it gives me an event I can go into the event and easily adjust the speed limit, but ONLY FOR THAT SECTION they sped in. If I need to adjust the speed limit for the whole road, thats another matter entirely. We work in the middle of no where so I have noticed there have been more examples of this than I would like. But I also understand they get their speed limit data the same as every other service so its not like Motive is behind, just limited to the data they receive.
I would like to be able to determine event criticality so that any event I want to be automatically assigned as "coachable" will be. Also in regards to the events page, I would like to see a way to select multiple events (maybe some check boxes to select the ones you want) and be able to assign them all to "coachable" or dismissed". Especially during implementation we are getting a lot of "obstructed view" and this is not going to count against their score, we just want to dismiss them after seeing who it is so we can address it. But we get 10 or 12 for each person and have to go into each one individually... It is just a little time consuming and I think the multi select functionality fixes that.
Currently maintenance reminders use engine hours OR miles. I would like to see the capability of using both. for example, a good estimate is 1 hour of engine idle time is equivalent to 30 miles driven. So if we set a 10,000 mile maintenance alert, I would want that to include the actual odometer reading (lets say 7,000 miles) and add the engine hours to miles conversion, lets say it has 100 idle hours (100x30 = 3,000). Hope that makes sense.
As mentioned, user interface appears messy and complicated at initial onset. Training is necessary but becomes easy to maneuver through after solid daily use.
When signing into Motive upon entering and starting motor vehicle, the app and the transmitting unit pair immediately. Once paired it is extremely easy and efficiently started to populate the necessary unit information. Then entering the Work Order info is seamlessly entered to the E- log. Doing the pre and post vehicle checks is completed quite accurately.
We have had a couple of issues with some GPSs not working properly. One is down right now, and we have to get it replaced because the GPS has already stopped working. Another was a cord issue. Otherwise, they have been working great with no issues.
I have never had a bad experience or heard of one in 4 years of doing business with HCSS. That is unheard of even with the hurricanes and flooding in Houston area it feels like HCSS was always there and willing to help in every way.
Even after using the product for multiple years, Motive continues to have follow-up calls with us to ensure we are taking full advantage of the functionality offered, to show us new tools and modules that are being released, and to help solve any issues or troubleshooting that may be required.
I was not employed with PPI upon implementation. I would prefer to reference my previous statement, that each company needs to evaluate its culture and address your implementation accordingly. The purchasing company should assign an employee as point person and really take charge of not just the technical side of the implementation (HCSS pretty much handles that), but focus on company culture and training.
Other estimating products I have used consist of ICE/MC2 and MS Excel. ICE was not a good fit for our company, as they have awful technical support and offer very poor training. MS Excel is great for simple estimates where there is not a lot of data being compiled. However neither hold a candle to the power of HCSS Heavybid
Our company used Qualcomm before getting Motive several years ago. Unfortunately, I was not working with the ELDs at that point. However, the majority of drivers say they like Motive more than Qualcomm. We have stayed with Motive due to its features, user support, and innovation with AI technology.
Because of the codebooks (bid item codebook for DOT's specifically), we're able to carve off significant time in "stick-building" estimates
It's very easy to train newer estimators with HeavyBid due to the abundance of resources available on HCSS Academy and elsewhere (i.e. Arthur Nix's material)
The KPI's and Insights that Pre-Con offers helps us to make better decisions on Bid Day.
