What are asset readings?

Asset readings are critical measurements that capture the current condition and usage of your vehicles, machinery, and equipment. These readings include data points such as odometer distances, runtime hours, and service dates, which together provide a factual snapshot of an asset’s health and performance. Accurate and timely asset readings enable organizations to plan maintenance proactively, avoid unexpected breakdowns, and optimize asset utilization. Whether you use inspections, connected GPS tracking devices, or telematics integrations, you have the flexibility to choose the best way to track asset usage in SafetyCulture.

You can add asset readings to your templates to manually track odometer and runtime data easily, especially in areas where technology may be less reliable. Although readings are predefined for templates, you can rename them accordingly.

Press to play GIF

Use connected devices such as GPS to transmit readings into the platform. Another alternative is direct integrations, which are available for leading asset management systems like Samsara, Geotab, Caterpillar (VisionLink), and AT&T Fleet Management.

Asset readings give you direct insight into each asset’s usage history. From an asset’s profile, you can view recent and historical values to track performance trends, confirm inspections are capturing expected data, or validate how heavily an asset is being used across sites.

Press to play GIF

If you need to analyze usage data outside SafetyCulture, you can also download asset readings as a CSV file. This is useful for tracking performance across individual assets, identifying trends, and integrating asset data into your own reporting or analysis tools.

Press to play GIF

Readings feed directly into utilization charts, which visualize how your assets are used over time. These charts help identify underused or overused assets, which allows you to adjust maintenance plans and optimize resource allocation.

Asset readings are central to managing preventative maintenance. The last service reading you enter while creating maintenance programs sets the baseline for when the next service is due. Then, as you capture current readings either from inspections, connected GPS tracking devices or telematics integration, you automatically calculate maintenance statuses of all your programs. Accurate readings trigger notifications to keep your team informed and help ensure maintenance occurs on time.