Success in the commercial transport industry is largely dependent on an organization’s ability to maximize vehicle uptime. A vehicle sidelined for repairs for any length of time can be costly in terms of lost revenue. This puts pressure on commercial vehicle repair operations, who are constantly looking for ways to complete repairs as quickly—and accurately—as possible.
One solution that a growing number of repair providers across the country count on for help maximizing the efficiency and accuracy of the vehicle diagnostic phase is eTechnician diagnostic software from NEXIQ Technologies®.
With the data and support repair operations needed to stay competitive in today’s trucking industry, eTechnician takes commercial vehicle diagnostics to an entirely new level. By combining extensive coverage for a wide range of vehicles, eTechnician delivers critical diagnostic capability for engines, transmissions, brakes, body and chassis and more.
To help repair facilities and fleet managers better understand the benefits of eTechnician, Dave Shock, product manager, Snap-on Business Solutions/NEXIQ Technologies, has provided answers to frequently asked questions concerning commercial vehicle diagnostics and NEXIQ’s advanced PC-based software application.
Fleet Maintenance: What are today’s technicians looking for when it comes to vehicle diagnostics?
Dave Shock: Simplicity. Rather than searching multiple applications for the information they need, technicians want to have everything right at their fingertips. This includes the collection of service information, which can be a challenge.
To help resolve this challenge, NEXIQ partnered with our sister company, Mitchell 1, to bring service information into the equation. The result is a comprehensive, single-source diagnostic tool designed to provide technicians the support they need to diagnose a vehicle quickly and accurately.
FM: What type of vehicles does eTechnician support?
DS: Everything from light-duty trucks to heavy-duty haulers. This includes consumer pickup trucks and vans, all the way up to commercial service vans, transit buses, work trucks and Class 8 semis. I’m not talking about a wide range of vehicles from a single manufacturer, but rather the ability to provide diagnostics across all major brands. I think it’s safe to say that if a truck rolls into a commercial vehicle repair facility, there’s a very good chance that eTechnician has it covered.
FM: What is the most important feature within eTechnician?
DS: There are a lot of great features, but at the top of the list is the ability to provide unprecedented bi-directional support, including changeable parameters and thousands of special tests such as DPF Regen, Injector Cutout and SCR performance/system testing, to name a few. It’s also important to note that eTechnician provides testing designed to help the technician get vehicles out of derate.
Based on technician feedback, another notable feature of eTechnician is the ability to perform high sample rate graphing, which in turn results in a higher resolution graph.
FM: Does eTechnician include a vehicle history component?
DS: Absolutely. eTechnician provides the ability to generate cloud-based, fleet-wide vehicle history reports that provide shops with access to data for every diagnostic session for every vehicle serviced using our tool, regardless of location. Reports include special test results, component details, technician notes, recordings, and life/trip data.
FM: How current is your software? Do you cover the latest vehicles?
DS: We have close ties to the OEMs and once we get new model year information, we update eTechnician software within six to 12 months to support heavy-duty vehicles and 18 to 24 months for light-duty vehicles. Our goal is to provide eTechnician customers with up-to-date software as soon as possible.
FM: Do you have to be an experienced technician to use eTechnician?
DS: No. We designed eTechnician around the people who use it—technicians. In fact, we consulted technicians from day one of the software’s development. We basically studied the workflow habits and tools used by one set of technicians, made changes to the software and added some features, then tested it on another set of technicians. By repeating this process, we developed an intuitive, technician-focused diagnostic tool that’s simple to learn and easy to use.
FM: Does NEXIQ offer a free trial for repair operations interested in taking eTechnician for a test drive?
DS: We sure do. Those interested in eTechnician can take advantage of a 30-day free trial by visiting nexiq.com/freetrial. Respondents will receive an email with a link to download eTechnician, a product key and a serial number.
To learn more about eTechnician, please visit the eTechnician product page.
