Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/897934
"I think we're at a stage right now where it's about communicating between trucks, truck drivers and state infrastruc- ture on safety information," he says. Drivewize is currently deploying in Beta-form a project that gathers infor- mation from all states about their high- crash locations and high-crash zones with that information being relayed to drivers as they approach those locations — Drivewize's push toward the truck being able to talk to its surroundings. When a truck can communicate with the world around it, Kar says the environment will help drive vehicle optimization. For example, if a prognostic mainte- nance platform indicates an imminent breakdown, that truck could be priori- tized to avoid extended downtime. "All those prognostic characteristics will be captured by connected truck technologies," Kar says. "If it's an electric vehicle, it might get preferential lane treatment, for example, or a preferential parking spot or prefer- ential lanes … What's going to make those decisions in the future will be the connected truck and technology." Prognostic capa- bilities still have hills to climb. Currently, Kar says the issue with prognostics is that there are only two smart systems on the truck that provide the ability to predict failure: tire pressure monitoring (TPMS) and engine control modules (ECM). "[TPMS] can tell you if a tire is not running at optimal pressure and it may rupture or lose further pressure," he says. "The engine ECM can tell you a lot about an engine's future. Pretty much the rest of the truck is like a dead zone." The future, Kar says, is making every system in the truck smarter. "If a system becomes smart, all of these systems can fall under prognos- tics, which would bring downtime to minimal," he says. "Systems are already in place. What you need is to make them smarter. How you make them smarter is to add electronic interfaces to enable communication of the vehicle itself with the world outside." Adding more sensors on a truck already rich with them won't be popular with drivers and techni- cians already weary of dashboard indicators, or with aftermarket providers who already struggle to capture OEM-native information. But Kar says the next generation of sensors won't simply indicate a problem. They will help the truck determine its own course of corrective action. 19 Cover Story W W W . T R U C K P A R T S A N D S E R V I C E . C O M N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 | T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E Service providers with the technology to monitor customer vehicles and assist in maintenance may have a leg up in the marketplace. If a system becomes smart, all of these systems can fall under prognostics, which would bring downtime to minimal. – Sandeep Kar, chief strategy offi cer at Fleet Complete