Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/759228
26 commercial carrier journal | december 2016 Volvo shows off Driver Assist platform V olvo Trucks North America last month gave industry press and fleet customers an up-close look at the company's new Volvo Active Driver Assist system in a track demonstration in Laurens, S.C., showing off the crash avoidance technology designed to help prevent severe rear-end collisions and rollovers. e VADA system is built upon Bendix's Wingman Fusion active safety system, fully integrating it from the factory with no external monitors or displays. at level of integration means that all of the system's alerts appear in the main Driver Information Display within the instrument cluster. VADA takes the Fusion system a step beyond current capabilities by incorporating a 42-degree-angle camera with the 22-degree radar sensor, allowing the system to better detect other vehicles and react accordingly, said Ash Makki, Volvo's technology marketing manager. The system constantly reads the road ahead, using the camera system to identify other vehicles and the ra- dar system to track their movement. Should the system detect an impend- ing rear-end crash, such as when stopping distances begin to narrow quickly, it will alert the driver with visual and audio warnings. If the driver does not take braking or steering action to avoid the crash, the truck will engage the brakes au- tonomously in an attempt to prevent the crash or reduce its severity. VADA's new camera and radar also allow for more accurate lane departure warnings and a bolstered active cruise control system that maintains proper following distances at highway speeds. e system also includes the full elec- tronic stability control system designed to prevent rollover crashes and loss of control by disengaging the throttle and braking to avoid such crashes. Trigger events – such as hard braking, excessive speed, swerving and lane changes without a signal – record 20-second video clips before and after the event that are uploaded to a dashboard where fleet managers can download them. Fleets also can use the Bendix SafetyDirect portal to score drivers and target them for intervention. e system is available on both the VNL and VNM models. – James Jaillet Volvo Active Driver Assist incorporates a 42-degree-angle camera with Bendix Wingman Fusion's 22-degree radar sensor. Navistar program helps fleets manage cores, components N avistar last month rolled out a program to help fleet customers manage end of life, wrecked trucks and surplus components. e company's Core Advantage Program is designed to help fleet owners reduce overall costs by aiding management of core and remanufac- turing activity through new tools such as Navistar's proprietary Core Manage- ment System. Navistar defines a core as a "used or failed part that has been returned by the customer at the end of its product life." Joel Larsen, Navistar vice president of parts product management, said cores are a key part of the business and that he expects the program to increase the company's product and service offerings, including Navistar's private Fleetrite parts label and OnCom- mand suite of value-added services. "A good core return program is key to a successful reman program," Larsen said. Cores are employed to remanufac- ture a returned part and restore it to like-new condition. Remanufactured parts carry the same features and func- tionality as new parts and come with the same warranty. "Remanufacturing is great for the en- vironment and great for business," said Chintan Sopariwala, general manager of core and remanufacturing opera- tions at Navistar. "Remanufactured parts offer a low-cost alternative to new parts without sacrificing on product quality or warranty. Last year alone, Navistar recycled over 70 million pounds of used truck components, and we have even more aggressive plans to increase this number." With the Core Advantage Pro- gram, fleets can have their own account number and location codes within the CMS, which streamlines their ability to see and run reports on purchases, return history, core el- igibility and core fallout rates across multiple locations. – Jason Cannon Navistar defines a core as a "used or failed part that has been returned by the customer at the end of its product life."