Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/339485
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JULY 2014 33 technology L ast month, a driver phoned Randy McGregor to report a problem: His truck was shaking, and the "check engine" light was on. While they were talking, the engine shut down. About two minutes later, McGregor received an email with the truck's unit number and location, informing him that a critical engine shutdown had occurred. McGregor, fleet manager for TransWay, a 100-truck carrier based in Holland, Mich., clicked on a link in the email to enter an online portal to do some research. "I had a pretty good idea right away of what happened," says McGregor, who located a nearby dealership and towing service using the portal's mapping tools. The dealership reviewed the case file and sched- uled a repair upon the truck's arrival that afternoon. TransWay uses an onboard computing and telematics plat- form from Omnitracs to capture and trans- mit fault codes to Navistar's OnCom- mand Connection remote diagnostics portal. By clicking on a fault code listed next to the truck's unit number, a document opens up that explains what the code means and what to do about it. The document also has a set of questions to ask the driver to be more certain of the problem, McGregor says. TransWay operates International and Freightliner trucks with Navistar, Cummins and Detroit engines. Prior to using On- Command Connection, "check engine" lights could have meant anything. Drivers called the office, but McGregor had no infor- mation about what to do about it, which often meant diverting drivers to a dealership, or having them towed, to avoid a possible breakdown. Trucks and drivers then might sit idle at a dealership for possi- bly two or three days before a diagnosis was returned. Naturally, drivers might want to ignore the warning lights to avoid such a circumstance. McGregor conservatively estimates the remote diagnostics portal saves his company $2,000 a day by preventing a breakdown or an unnecessary trip to a dealership that would result in lost revenue and additional driver expenses. In many cases, noncriti- cal fault codes can be handled at TransWay's own shop during the truck's next scheduled preventive maintenance stop. McGregor discovered OnCommand Connection a few months before it officially was available last February. The discovery came when he needed information and called Brian Mulshine, Navis- tar's director of service performance and technology. Mulshine had the portal's foundation already in place and gave McGregor a quick introduction. Navistar developed OnCommand Connection as an open plat- form to receive telematics data from any source. The portal receives fault codes and other telematics data from Omnitracs, PeopleNet, XRS, Telogis and other major providers of mobile fleet manage- ment systems through standard XML-scripted communications. Since OnCommand Connection's launch, the portal now is monitoring fault codes from 40,000 vehicles from all manufac- turers, says Mulshine, adding that Navistar expects to have about 500,000 trucks online by next year. Navistar continues to add new capabilities to the portal, such as analytical tools based on statistical data that show the amount of time that certain types of fault codes take to repair and the cost of parts and labor. The company also is developing mobile apps for fleet managers and drivers to monitor vehicle health. As International continues its turnaround project, fleets are encour- aged by its successful and potentially "game-changing" work in remote diag- nostics and fleet management. MAKING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS WORK FOR YOUR FLEET BY AARON HUFF technology AARON HUFF is Senior Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail ahuff@ccjmagazine.com or call (801) 754-4296. CHECK ENGINE: The remote diagnostics portal explains what the fault codes mean. NO FAVORITISM: The platform receives and evaluates telematics data from any source. TURNAROUND PROJECT: Fleets are encouraged by Navistar's suc- cessful rebound efforts. Diagnosis from afar Navistar hitting its stride with telematics Navistar's OnCommand Connection portal gives fleets a standard platform to monitor the health of vehicles from any manufacturer and respond to fault codes quickly.