How remote diagnostics and remote programming can improve commercial vehicle truck uptime

Fleets can take advantage of advances in vehicle telematics, wireless connectivity and cloud-based data storage to improve the way vehicles are monitored, diagnosed and maintained. Thanks to this emerging technology known as remote diagnostics, vehicle downtime can be reduced significantly.

Modern vehicles have the ability to access thousands of fault codes and performance measures from a variety of systems such as the engine, transmission and brakes. Remote diagnostics allow fleets to observe this vehicle data in real-time from virtually anywhere, resulting in a host of benefits for fleets:

Continuously monitored vehicle performance to identify “symptoms” of a looming “illness”
Shift to a proactive, condition-based maintenance schedule as opposed to an interval-based schedule
Reduce the chances of catastrophic vehicle failure
Reduce the likelihood of towing bills and other costs associated with vehicle downtime
Share data with service partners to expedite servicing and get vehicles back on the road more quickly
If the system is capable, perform remote programming while vehicle is still in the field

A side benefit of remote diagnostics is telematics data provides information on driver behavior such as driving speed, rapid acceleration and hard braking. Real-time access to this data helps fleets more effectively encourage and enforce driver best practices.

Another side benefit has to do with shop efficiency.

“Remote diagnostics represents a much needed solution to the shortage of qualified technicians,” says Dave Covington, chief technology officer for Noregon Systems. “If a top-level technician can remotely diagnose fleet vehicles, that frees up the rest of the staff to perform repairs when the vehicles arrive to the shop. Also, this prevents less-experienced technicians from having to get involved in what can be a lengthy diagnosis process in the shop.” Noregon is a provider of commercial vehicle diagnostic, repair and data analytic solutions.

Additionally, by knowing what is wrong with a vehicle while it is still in the field, fleets have the ability to route it to a shop that has a technician and bay available as well as the necessary parts.

“In the case of a dire issue requiring roadside service, the service provider will know which tools and parts need to be brought to the vehicle,” Covington adds.

How it works and what fleets need

First of all, diagnostic-related vehicle data must be extracted through some sort of telematics device. Some modern vehicles come preinstalled with telematics. There is also a long list of aftermarket device providers for fleets to choose from.

One such provider is Geotab.

“Our GO device delivers information when an engine system fault occurs,” says Scott Sutarik, Geotab’s associate vice president of commercial vehicles. “That information includes fault description, severity, recommendation, GPS and other data. This information can be sent through a mobile app, email or other web service. Additionally, the system can map vehicle location to the closest repair shop, towing provider, dealer or hotel.”

For example, a truck experiences a low-coolant alert which triggers a notification to the fleet. The fleet calls the driver to check in before proceeding to schedule the vehicle for service. Once the vehicle is in the bay, the technician determines that the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) cooler is cracked. The EGR cooler is repaired and the vehicle is sent back on the road. Additional cost and downtime has been avoided thanks to remote diagnostics.

Another telematics provider is NEXIQ Technologies. Tom Kotenko, company director, likens NEXIQ’s Blue-Link product to a Fitbit device. By plugging Blue-Link into a vehicle’s diagnostic connector, drivers can use a smartphone or tablet to quickly access basic diagnostic information. When used in conjunction with First-Link, NEXIQ’s mobile app, Blue-Link helps drivers and technicians understand the cause of alerts.

“The user can trigger what they want to see,” Kotenko says. “That could be fault codes, inactive faults or vehicle performance—whatever information the user decides they need in order to better manage the fleet.” Intelligent software with a frictionless user interface is the second part of an effective remote diagnostics product.

“The remote diagnostics software should have the capabilities of advanced in-shop diagnostic and repair applications, down to the auto-identification of components, bi-directional controls and advanced features such as live monitoring of key data points,” Noregon’s Covington says.

Noregon’s TripVision software can work with any telematics device, Covington points out, so long as certain minimum requirements are met.

“The richer the data set, the better TripVision can perform,” he adds. TripVision can provide real-time full coverage of vehicles, aggregated health and safety scores based on collective vehicle faults, and the ability to detect performance issues such as faults affecting fuel economy.

“Solutions like TripVision have a tremendous impact on uptime and overall maintenance costs by providing insights needed to reduce unexpected breakdowns,” Covington says. “However, complete remote diagnostic capabilities for all makes, models and components have yet to become readily available in the market.”

Navistar, the manufacturer of International Trucks, is doing something about that. The company says its OnCommand Connection, which first went live in January 2014, is a remote diagnostics solution for all makes and models. Because it is an open platform, OnCommand Connection can integrate with virtually all telematics providers in North America. The diagnostic data being pulled by the telematics device can be fed directly into OnCommand Connection’s cloud-based repository for presentation to the end customer.

“Many of our customers have mixed fleets,” says Andrew Dondlinger, vice president of connected services at Navistar. “For remote diagnostics to be as valuable as possible, our customers told us they wanted a single solution. That’s what we’ve done here.”

Because there has been some degree of standardization in the telematics industry, many heavy duty onboard diagnostic trouble codes (aka fault codes) have the same meaning across vehicle makes and models. According to Dondlinger, that allows Navistar to provide the same kind of predictive analysis across different vehicle types.

“There are only 100 to 150 codes out of thousands where you really have to worry about a vehicle going down,” Dondlinger says. “Other codes, like a headlight being out, are more about compliance. Compliance is important, but we’re more focused on what will cause a catastrophic repair.”

Dondlinger says it is vital for telematics providers to make sure data is readily accessible and easy to digest.

“When remote diagnostics data goes into our cloud, the fleet can access it several different ways,” Dondlinger says. “The primary method is through a web browser to our online portal. The fleet can have us set up the reporting any way it wants based on its own structure and needs. Additionally, the fleet can have various email or text alerts set up so it doesn’t have to sift through all the data for every truck every day. For example, a fleet could have alerts set up based on different fault codes and levels of severity. The fleet can also look at vehicle health reports through a mobile app.”

OnCommand Connection helps fleets analyze data and form action plans based on a certain fault code or grouping of codes.

“The software outlines the symptoms, suggests questions to ask the driver about what they are experiencing, and then outlines what steps to take,” Dondlinger says. “We’ve recently launched a more detailed version of this that takes it a step further. If you know what the symptom is, the software tells you which parts are needed and where the nearest dealers are located.”

Navistar does offer its own telematics device. It comes standard on International Trucks and is also available as an aftermarket item. That said, OnCommand Connection’s integration with other telematics providers is essential.

“It helps us live up to our promise of helping customers improve vehicle uptime throughout their fleets,” Dondlinger says.

Fix issues from afar with remote programming

There is an important distinction to acknowledge when talking about remote diagnostics, says Dario Peruch, general manager of TEXA USA. Basic GPS fleet management tools are used to monitor vehicles. Remote programming, on the other hand, will also perform activities to fix issues and put a vehicle back on the road. Oftentimes it is an emissions-related issue.

“Let’s say a truck is stuck on the highway with a clogged DPF (diesel particulate filter),” Peruch offers as an example. “The driver could allow a technician remote access to the truck in order to force regen.”

TEXA USA offers a complete range of products and services for diagnostic repair and maintenance. One of its newer products, eTRUCK, is a compact telematics device that connects to a truck and transmits diagnostic information via Bluetooth. eTRUCK is designed to work in tandem with TEXA’s IDC5 software.

eTRUCK involves three key stakeholders in the remote diagnostic process:

The driver can view data via a smartphone app
The fleet can check vehicle status through a dedicated fleet manager portal
The technician can see the complete picture of information through remote diagnostics, and also perform remote programming and repair activities through the workshop portal

Two prominent truck manufacturers have also made recent advancements in the area of remote programming and repair activity. Each touts the significant uptime gains their customers have been experiencing since unveiling the technology in fall 2017.

Volvo’s 2018 proprietary engine--powered trucks with factory-installed connectivity hardware feature Remote Programming. If authorized by the vehicle’s decision maker, a technician can perform over-the-air software and parameter updates anywhere in the U.S. and Canada where a cellular connection is available. Software updates take roughly 20 minutes while parameter updates take less than 10 minutes.

“Volvo’s Remote Programming provides a significant time savings when compared with the 2.3-day industry average when a truck arrives at a bay, is plugged in and manually receives updates,” says Ash Makki, Volvo Trucks North America product manager.

Mack Trucks, part of the Volvo Group, is offering a similar product called Mack Over The Air. It now comes standard on all Mack Trucks equipped with Mack 2017 or newer engines. Mack Over The Air works in tandem with Mack’s remote diagnostics solution, GuardDog Connect.

Both the Mack and Volvo remote programming systems work similarly. If the truck’s remote diagnostics system detects a fault code that qualifies for an over-the-air update, the fleet is notified through either the web-based portal or smartphone app. The fleet can secure a time when the vehicle can be in a location with a strong cellular signal. The vehicle must be turned off and parked with the brake engaged. The fleet can then work with the truck manufacturer’s Uptime Center representatives to initiate the update.

“The process is very easy for the fleet manager,” says Scott Barraclough, Mack Trucks technology product manager.

Sharing data with service partners

In the case of remote programming with Volvo and Mack, vehicle data is shared with the vehicle manufacturer’s call center to help solve an issue as expeditiously as possible. With remote diagnostics in general, this concept of data sharing is important to maximizing the benefits.

In the case of Geotab, it holds the raw data. Geotab then leaves it up to the fleet as to whom it shares that data with.

“The fleet could share it with an in-house employee, one of its service partners or a data analytics company,” Geotab’s Sutarik explains.

Dondlinger says Navistar has several International Truck dealers who monitor their customers’ fleets.

An aftermarket shop can benefit greatly from remote diagnostics, especially if it is servicing numerous fleets or vehicles.

“The shop could set up a remote diagnostics network that engages with its repair order system,” NEXIQ’s Kotenko says. “As a vehicle is driving along and experiences a fault code, that can initiate a work order. Then the shop can contact the fleet to recommend that the vehicle be brought in for service. The fleet has visibility to the faults and so does the shop. Everything is much more transparent.”

The underlying point is that the fleet decides what data it needs, who needs it and what is to be done with it. When remote diagnostics is leveraged in the proper way, fleets can take a big step toward solving their uptime challenge.