On-board and Manage Plant Equipment
The Plant page (Menu > Plant) allows you to manage plant equipment in Virtual Superintendent, including on-boarding new machinery, editing existing records, and off‑boarding equipment when it is no longer in use.
On-boarding plant equipment ensures that accurate configuration, weight, and cost data is available. This data directly supports reporting, machine utilization tracking, and productivity analysis.
Note: Plant equipment can also be on-boarded and edited in bulk using an Excel spreadsheet. See the Bulk Import Plant Equipment Using an Excel Spreadsheet help article for details.
In this article
Permissions
To access the Plant page (Menu > Plant) and view, edit, on-board, and off-board plant machinery, you must have one of the following permissions:
- Admin Manager
- User Admin
On-board Plant Equipment
To on-board new machinery in your project:
- Sign in to Virtual Superintendent.
- Click Menu > Plant. The Plant page opens. The page displays a grid containing all plant equipment in the project.
- Click On-Board. The On-board Plant dialog opens. This dialog is divided into three tabs: Configuration, Weights & Limits, and Costs.
- Enter the details of your new plant equipment into each tab on the dialog (these fields are described below).
- Click On-Board. The new machinery is added to the Plant page grid list and becomes selectable in the SafeSite app.
The Configuration Tab
The Configuration tab includes the following machinery configuration fields:
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Note: Role, Plant ID / Rego and Model fields are mandatory.
| Field | Description | Notes |
| Role | Role of the on-boarded plant | Required; must match an existing role; select a valid role from the dropdown |
| Plant ID / Rego No | Unique identifier for the plant or registration number | Required; alpha-numeric; must be globally unique |
| Secondary Plant ID / Rego No | Unique secondary identifier for the plant or registration number | Alpha-numeric; must be globally unique |
| Trailer ID / Rego No | Trailer ID or registration number | Alpha-numeric; must be globally unique |
| Model | Model of the plant | Required; alpha-numeric |
| EPA Certification Number | EPA certification number | Alpha-numeric |
| Start SMU Reading | The first SMU reading manually recorded for the machine | An SMU summary for the machine (once on-boarded) displays at the bottom of the tab |
| Comments | Comments about the plant machinery | Alpha-numeric |
| Load Count Settings | Automatically detected based on the machine's role | The role of the plant when counting loads: loader, hauler, or placer |
| Tracking Methods | Selection boxes to choose the tracking devices or types used on this machine | If prompted, enter the plant serial number or identification number. |
The Weights & Limits Tab
The Weights & Limits tab includes the following weight and axle-related fields:
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Note: Not all fields are required. For example, if you are not using the PBS scheme, leave that field blank. Enter all weight values in kilograms (kg).
| Field | Description | Notes |
| Tare Weight | Weight of the machine when empty. Also known as the curb weight | Number; must be less than PBS, GML, GVM and SPECTS weight |
| Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) | Maximum weight of the machine, in kilograms, when fully loaded. Typically determined by the manufacturer | Number; generally determined by the manufacturer |
| General Mass Limit (GML) | Maximum allowable loaded weight, in kilograms, for the machine when on road | Number; must be greater that Tare weight if used |
| SPECTS Weight | Safety, Productivity and Environment Construction Transport Scheme weight in kilograms | Number; must be greater that Tare weight if used |
| Performance Based Standard Weight (PBS) | Allowable weight for the machine in kilograms if using the PBS scheme | Number; machines that comply with the PBS scheme are given an extension to their GML weight in certain situations; PBS weight must not exceed GVM |
| Number of Axles | Number of vehicle axles | Number; must be between 2 and 6; directly influences how many axles an operator can enter weights for when creating virtual weighbridge dockets in SafeSite |
| Approximate Payload | The approximate payload for the machine when an exact weight is unavailable using either a weighbridge or Virtual Weighbridge input | Number; integer (no decimals) |
| Payload Unit | UOM for the approximate payload | Unit of measure; select kg or m3 from the dropdown |
| Speed Limit (km/h) | Speed limit for the machine in km/h. | Number; integer (no decimals); vehicle speeds above this value trigger speeding events in your reports and dashboards; typically used for on-site speeding events where there are no public roads |
Note: Public road speeding events can be configured to record automatically. Contact Virtual Superintendent support at support@virtualsuper.com to enable this feature for your project.
The Costs Tab
The Costs tab includes the following cost-related fields:
Note: None of the fields on this tab are required. However, entering this data is recommended, as it can be used in custom analytics dashboards to provide financial insights.
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| Field | Description | Notes |
| Supplier | The supplier hiring the machinery | If not listed, see the Suppliers Page help article. |
| Additional Suppliers | Additional suppliers hiring the machinery if cross hired between multiple suppliers | Only available after a primary Supplier has been selected. |
| Item Code | Item being billed | Only available after a primary Supplier has been selected; select a valid item from the dropdown |
| Create SMU Docket | Whether the Digital Matter device installed on this machinery should automatically generate SMU hours dockets | Digital Matter devices only; useful for dry hire machines; see the Automatically Generate SMU Dockets help article |
| Internal Machine Running Cost ($/hr) | Internal cost of running the machine in dollars per hour | Number |
| Dry Hire | Specify whether the equipment is provided with or without operators | Yes or No |
| Expected Operating Hours (per day) | Number of hours that you expect the machine to be operating each day | Number |
| Minimum Chargeable Hours | The minimum number of hours that the machine should be in operation daily, weekly or monthly | Number |
| On Frequency Of | The unit used for the minimum chargeable hours value | Daily, weekly, or monthly; select a unit from the dropdown |
| Fuel Consumption Under Load (L/hr) | Liters of fuel used by the machine every hour when under mechanical load | Number; integer (no decimals) |
| Fuel Consumption While Empty (L/hr) | Liters of fuel used by the machine every hour when not carrying a load | Number; integer (no decimals) |
| Fuel Consumption While Idle (L/hr) | Liters of fuel used by the machine every hour when idling (engine running but vehicle not in motion) | Number; integer (no decimals) |
Cost Notes
When using fields on the Costs tab, consider the following:
- Internal machine running cost ($/hr) records the internal cost of operating plant equipment. This value is not used in cost tracking or invoicing. It is used only in reports and dashboards to help you understand internal fleet running costs.
- Expected operating hours (per day) defines how long a machine is expected to operate each day. You can compare this value with actual hours to measure machine availability and identify equipment that does not meet operational expectations.
- Minimum chargeable hours sets the minimum number of hours a machine is expected to operate over a given period. Use this setting to report on whether hire machines are meeting minimum contract requirements.
- Estimated fuel consumption values allow you to approximate fuel usage when combined with GPS data. This information can be used in analytics dashboards to provide a live view of fuel consumption across your fleet.
Edit Plant Equipment
To edit existing machinery in your project:
- Sign in to Virtual Superintendent.
- Click Menu > Plant. The Plant page opens.
- Locate the machinery to edit in the page and click. The Plant Details dialog opens.
- Click Edit. Edit the details of the plant equipment.
- Click Save. The updated equipment details are saved.
Off-Board Plant Equipment
To off-board existing machinery, removing it from your project:
- Sign in to Virtual Superintendent.
- Click Menu > Plant. The Plant page opens.
- Locate the machinery to edit in the page and click. The Plant Details dialog opens.
- Click Off-Board. The button changes to Confirm Off-Board? and starts a three second countdown. When the countdown finishes, the button changes back to Off-Board.
- Click Confirm Off-Board?. The equipment is off-boarded and can no longer be selected in the SafeSite app.
Understand On-boarding Status
Machines in Virtual Superintendent can have different on-boarding statuses, which determine how they appear and behave in SafeSite. These are shown on the plant grid under the On-boarded Status column.
| On-boarding Status | Description |
| On-boarded | The machine has been configured with relevant generic data (weight and cost values). When a subcontractor signs in to the SafeSite app and selects this machine, the system generates complete and accurate data for it. |
| Provisionally On-boarded | The machine's details were generated automatically when a SafeSite user signed in and entered an unknown plant ID. These machines have limited details. which can be completed in Virtual Superintendent and the machine officially on-boarded. To prevent provisional on-boarding, configure sign‑on profiles to restrict users from entering plant IDs of equipment that has not been on-boarded (set Plant ID Enforce On-boarded to Yes on the Sign-On Plant Control tab). |
| Off-boarded | The machine has been removed from active use. It does not appear in selection lists in the SafeSite app and users cannot select it when creating dockets. |