Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/795447
72 commercial carrier journal | march 2017 EQUIPMENT: MAINTAINING OLDER TRUCKS relationship management solutions for commercial assets. Decisiv's soware platform powers the Kenworth Truck- Tech+ Service Management System, allowing fleets to moni- tor the service status of their individual trucks in real time. "ere are many motivations for the driver to deliver the load on time, and he may decide to keep going because that's in his best interests, but it's not necessarily in the best interests of the company," Riemer says. "e maintenance manager may make a better overall decision." Depending on the level of intelligence the truck can provide, diagnostics information may include a suggested repair plan and the fault's most likely causes, which can expedite repairs. "e more information I've got about the issue, that at least gives me the ability to decide which vendor I want to send it to, or if I want to stop and repower the load," Riemer says. "It's allowing me to make more informed decisions. Knowing that something is going to happen very soon is very important – as is knowing what is going to happen if you don't do something." On early-model trucks, installing diagnostics capabilities – which Alread says can cost about $150, with upwards of a $45 monthly monitoring fee depending on services desired – can be critical to getting more efficiency. "You're really focused on two things," she says. "First, PMs are more critical because the trucks are older. Second, if you're going to do your ELD compliance, this rolls up into one nice package for you." Treinen says the value is found mostly in improved uptime. "Virtual Technician helps fleets make informed business decisions, so that they only service their vehicles when needed," he says. "In the case that a truck does need to go into the shop, it provides access to the best information possible to get the truck diagnosed quickly and fixed right the first time." With this level of actionable information being delivered within minutes, Virtual Technician helps maximize uptime, Treinen says. "Customers using Virtual Technician become believers in the value it delivers the first time they avoid an unnecessary trip to the shop or it expedites the resolution of a severe fault event and gets them back on the road," he says. Choosing a service On most new trucks, onboard diagnostics are standard, but subscription lengths can vary based on the truck model. For older trucks, retrofit services generally are bundled into packages with everything ranging from regulatory com- pliance to asset tracking. Riemer says it's crucial that the end user understands what kind of data they are getting and what they should do with it. "What I would caution customers on is that just because a telematics vendor says they do diagnostics doesn't mean they are doing it in an intelligent way," he says. "Sending out alerts every time a fault is thrown, you're going to get spammed to death." Navistar's OnCommand Connection, launched in October 2013, is standard on all new International trucks and also is available via the aermarket for legacy models and non- International vehicles. Status and diagnostics trouble code data from more than a dozen telematics service providers can be transmitted to OnCommand Connection, which interprets the data and creates vehicle health reports and recommended action plans that can be accessed through an online portal. Customers also should be sure that any potential service provider can send the information where the fleet wants it to go, and not just within a dealership or a predetermined OEM network, Alread says. "e truck owner owns their own [HDA platform] data, and it can be shared with anyone they want, no matter what the situation is," she says. Riemer also cautions that vendors that provide generic equipment are most likely only able to provide generic infor- mation, so aligning expectations with reality is important. "e challenge is that if they plug to a standard OBD-II or J-BUS port, you're only getting the standard stuff," he says. "If there's any proprietary data in there, you're not going to get it, but you'll at least get some level of severity in near-real time." e main goal of onboard diagnostics – regardless of the provider – is to boost uptime, Alread says. "We always talk about uptime and preventive maintenance," she says. "Diagnostics gives you an avenue to do predictive main- tenance. We can predictively decide how to run the fleet's main- tenance department to increase uptime. Having the diagnostic health support of the vehicle is like your crystal ball." "GPS tracking helps with route optimization, driver safety and idle time," Riemer adds. "Productivity is a piece of the tracking that can benefit everybody." Retrofit kits for the Detroit Connect Virtual Technician remote diagnostics service are available through Freightliner and Western Star dealers or through Zonar Systems. Decisiv's software platform powers the Kenworth TruckTech+ Service Management System, allowing fleets to monitor the service status of their individual trucks in real time.