Fleet Maintenance Management using vehicle telematics systems

There has been increased interest in the improved operational efficiency and productivity realized from implementing vehicle telematics.

Telematics, fundamentally, is the blending of computers and wireless telecommunications technologies, with the goal of efficiently conveying information over vast networks to improve business functions and services.

Initially, vehicle telematics revolved around using global positioning satellite (GPS) tracking to monitor, in real time, the location and activity of vehicles, as well as driving behavior. Combined with fleet management technology, fleets had information that could be used to reduce operational costs and improve customer service.

Over time, vehicle telematics and fleet management technology evolved to be able to provide real-time vehicles diagnostics, allowing fleet service professionals to address vehicle issues proactively.

Telematics systems can track and wirelessly report how a particular vehicle is being operated and how that affects its “health.” These systems also report vehicle fault codes that indicate repair needs and event codes that could indicate operator abuse. This information can then be used to adjust appropriately the vehicle’s preventive maintenance schedule.

IMPROVED VISBILITY

DeCarolis Truck Rental of Rochester, NY, needed to improve visibility into the maintenance side of its business. The company provides transportation resources and solutions to more than 1,000 customers from various industries across Western and Central New York.

The main objective was to improve the way maintenance was managed in order to find areas of operational cost savings and regular maintenance efficiencies, says Ken Anderson, director of operations, at DeCarolis Truck Rental. The company also wanted to know what was happening with its trucks when customers leased or rented them.

Furthermore, it wanted to track general wear and tear, avoid breakdowns, improve maintenance schedules and ensure the drivers were operating its trucks responsibly and safely.

In researching options to meet these business objectives, DeCarolis Truck Rental decided to go with FleetKnowSys from Vnomics, a leading provider of Intelligent Telematics software for the commercial trucking and government vehicle sectors. The hardware for FleetKnowSys was installed onto its trucks.

SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES

“FleetKnowSys operates by intelligently knowing what information to use and how to deliver decision-supporting recommendations instantly, clearly and effectively at the most opportune time,” explains Ed McCarthy, vice president of engineering at Vnomics. “This helps to maximize returns relating to significantly reducing fuel consumption; ensuring truck and driver safety; effectively minimizing unnecessary truck wear and tear; minimizing downtime with instantaneous reporting of diagnostic trouble codes; and staying in compliance.

“FleetKnowSys identifies every opportunity to reduce operating costs in real time,”

he says.

“Having FleetKnowSys in place has given us the crucial visibility we need to know what is happening with our assets at all times,” DeCarolis Truck Rental’s Anderson says. “Having the ability to monitor truck performance and driver behavior in real time has been invaluable for reducing our maintenance expenses and our risk and liability exposure, and we have an overall understanding of how our assets are being used.”

FleetKnowSys has also enabled the company’s customers to reduce fuel consumption, thus increasing their fuel savings - “all in real time when the opportunity to save is optimized,” he notes.

With the Vnomics Intelligent Telematics software, DeCarolis Truck Rental can track numerous subsystem components and be alerted, via trouble codes, when a component either has an urgent issue that needs immediate attention or has indications of a future problem that can wait until the next servicing date or a stop at a maintenance facility for evaluation.

“The ability to predict issues before they occur is priceless in our business,” says Jeremy Ayres, director of sales at DeCarolis Truck Rental. “Being able to avoid a breakdown or to even have a better chance of reducing the risk of an accident before it occurs allows us to confidently offer reliable, safe and high-quality assets for our customers so that their drivers, their loads and our trucks get to each destination on time and as safely as possible.”

REMOTE DIAGNOSTICS

An integral element of FleetKnowSys is its remote vehicle diagnostic system which provides fleets the ability to practice preventive and predictive maintenance to ensure truck efficiency and driver safety.

“This system tracks, records, analyzes and notifies, all in real time, when maintenance is needed based on severity level,” David Chauncey, chief executive officer of Vnomics, says. “It also provides information on possible system malfunctions before they occur.”

This is done by monitoring in real time how the truck is being operated and the resulting stress on the engine and system components. By doing so, FleetKnowSys is able to analyze and “predict” part end-of-life conditions so that service personnel can proactively schedule maintenance when necessary to avoid future truck performance issues.

When an on-the-road maintenance issue occurs, FleetKnowSys’ sensors, including those on the truck data busses, immediately detect anomalies within the truck’s systems and send out an alert to the designated fleet/maintenance personnel. They receive a detailed description of the problem, including a probable root cause, along with suggested corrective actions.

They can then determine if they should notify other stakeholders within the organization of the situation or simply keep watch of it to ensure the issue doesn’t become critical.

All information is stored within FleetKnowSys for future reference, observes Chauncey. Reports can be pulled in a variety of ways depending on what specific information is needed.

HEALTH MANAGEMENT

FleetKnowSys manages a vehicle’s “health” through its ability to monitor and report on thousands of measured parameters relating to the mechanical operating condition on the truck, Vnomics’ McCarthy says. This includes:

- Operating parameters, such as speed, fuel economy, temperatures, pressures, etc.

- Engine parameters, including oil system, cooling system, fuel system, etc.

- Electrical system, including battery, alternator, lights, etc.

- Drivetrain, including transmission, transfer case differential, traction control, etc.

- Others things, including brake system, air system, hydraulics, emission systems, etc.

All alert codes reflect the following information:

- Vehicle number.

- Driver name and contact information.

- GPS locations of where the alert occurred.

- Truck make, model and age.

- Last occurrence.

- Alert Code number, with a description of the issue, recommendations on how to manage it and possible cause.

- Duration of time the maintenance code/alert has been active.

Because FleetKnowSys tells fleets/maintainers what it thinks has caused the issue and recommends corrective actions to ensure the best possible outcome, they “have more time to better manage maintenance occurrences and notify the driver on how to handle the situation to minimize expenses and impacts to schedule and safety,” says McCarthy.

BETTER PLANNING

Additionally, if a truck was to breakdown or needed to pull over to avoid serious damage, the system’s Maintenance Manager knows exactly what the issue is and can send the appropriate technician with the right skill set, along with the needed tools and parts out to repair site. “This dramatically saves time and cost relating to the use of roadside technicians and truck servicing,” says Chauncey of Vnomics.

This level of proactive service has resulted in a reduction in the time a truck is off the road, which reassures drivers that their delivery schedules will not be compromised, DeCarolis Truck Rental Ayres.

Knowing if there is a potential truck-performance problem before it becomes a major issue allows the company to save on costly out-of-warranty repairs because it can proactively schedule maintenance during the warranty period.

Another benefit of using Vnomics’ Intelligent Telematics software is that DeCarolis Truck Rental’s customers can now efficiently track driver/truck location, save on fuel by managing driver behavior more effectively and meet all hours of service requirements, notes Ayres.

DATA USE

But even the best information from vehicle telematics is only useful if it is used appropriately, or at all.

To compete efficiently and make a profit in fleet maintenance, technology is no longer an option. Selecting the appropriate technology, and then turning telematics data into business critical information in real time, is a crucial factor in an operation’s success and longevity.

How using maintenance software can improve operations efficiency

Managing a heavy duty maintenance operation as a line-of-business instead of merely a cost-center can make a significant difference to the entire company’s bottom line, says Alan Tomlinson, a sales engineer with TMW Systems, a developer of enterprise management software for the surface transportation services industry.

“Fleets that carry excessive parts inventory, or that replace parts too soon, or that fail to cash in on warranty recovery are essentially throwing away money,” he says. “At many shops, management and technicians focused on reactive repairs are missing opportunities to improve operations efficiency that can save time and money.

“There are tools to help address both issues.”

The right fleet maintenance software can transform shops from cost centers into revenue generators, explains Tomlinson. With expanded data and automated systems at their fingertips, technicians are able to oversee more vehicles at once and spend less time chasing parts and warranty records.

“With less capital tied up in inventory, fleets enjoy greater flexibility to make strategic investments elsewhere,” he says.

LEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

“We can accurately track expenses and reduce labor and parts costs,” says Christine Baggerly, chief administrative officer for First Piedmont Corp., Chatham, VA, a full-service waste-management company with a fleet of more than 150 rolling assets.

With its adoption of TMW Systems’ TMT Fleet Maintenance software, First Piedmont has transformed a former cost drain, “taking shop operations into the black by up to $200,00 a year,” Baggerly says. The savings are the result of reductions in administrative time devoted to labor and parts data, improved productivity and streamlined wage processing.

With better tracking and the elimination of obsolete parts, First Piedmont has also slashed inventory costs.

Greater day-to-day efficiency is but one benefit of fleet maintenance software, TMW Systems’ Tomlinson notes.

“Guided by data collected through the TMT Fleet Maintenance software, fleet managers can assess trends and leverage that knowledge in making future equipment purchases and lease agreements,” he says. “Meanwhile, technicians freed from the burden of filling out and filing paperwork can continue to do what they do best - fix trucks.”

DATA MANAGEMENT

In search of a system to handle sophisticated data management, the local government of Wake County, NC, has also reaped myriad benefits from TMW Systems’ Fleet Maintenance software, including greater productivity. Since going paperless in 2002, the county has maintained a vehicle-to-technician ratio of 116 to 1, compared to an industry average of about 65 to 1.

Repair histories, and parts- and fuel-use data - accessed through an onboard module that automatically reads vehicle, odometer and fault code information and transmits it to the TMT software - allow the Wake County fleet to create repair orders and assign technicians more efficiently. Additionally, the database provides information for evaluating fuel economy and comparing vehicles to make more informed specification and purchasing decisions.

“Besides being able to better manage labor and parts costs, Wake County, like First Piedmont, has significantly boosted its warranty claim recovery, says Tomlinson. “Swamped by paperwork before implementing their software, Wake County is now saving its taxpayers money with a proactive approach in the repair shop.”

The software investment has paid off for First Piedmont as well.

TMT Fleet Maintenance software, First Piedmont’s Baggerly says, “is a large part of the reason we think we can expand our business cost effectively and profitably.”

More accurate vehicle inspections

While technology can be used to improve many aspects of vehicle maintenance, some functions are still best performed by trained personnel. One is vehicle inspections.

One company that specializes in this is DEKRA, the leader in vehicle safety and safety inspections, through its Commercial Fleet Performance Systems.

Unlike other inspection providers, Commercial Fleet Performance Systems is an inspection-only provider that “excels at performing detailed, accurate and objective inspections,” say company officials.

All of the company’s inspectors are either current or former state roadside inspectors, or experienced technicians trained and supervised by them, the officials note. Inspections are “done every time by experts who know what to look for, and what law enforcement will find.”

Following the inspections, the inspectors explain results to drivers, and provide advice for those drivers to improve the safety of their vehicles and avoid roadside violations.

The inspectors key all their results and advice to Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program compliance so a fleet can continually improve its scores and “avoid roadside stops more and more as those scores improve,” say DEKRA officials.

Inspection results are also recorded and stored in the DEKRA data base, and are available on a 24/7, password protected basis from any laptop or desktop PC. This data can be analyzed based on vehicle, fleet, terminal location, manufacturer (vehicle or component) or a wide variety of other criteria, and reports created based on any of them.

Commercial Fleet Performance Systems performs the following types of inspection:

- Annual DOT.

- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Regulation Section 393, Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation.

- Random “safety snapshot” inspections in between annual inspections.

- Pre- and post-repair equipment audits.

- Custom inspections focusing on customer-specific or segment-specific elements.

- Driver assessment and improvement training.

- Tank truck and passenger vehicle inspection.

The challenge of gathering service data

Due to ever-changing engine technology, plus vehicle OEMs implementing more and more electronic controls, today’s heavy duty vehicles require more electronic tools to maintain and repair than ever, observes Greg Reimmuth, vice president of sales, Noregon Systems, a company specializes in creating custom software solutions and products for the commercial transportation and military industries. “Fortunately, there are tools available to help manage these challenges.”

If you compare a typical heavy duty truck manufactured in 2003 to a similar make manufactured in 2011, “the difference in electronics associated with the truck is dramatic,” he says. In average terms, over the 8-year period, the:

- Number of ECUs (electronic control units) has increased four-fold.

- Number of sensors on a typical heavy duty diesel engine have doubled.

- Available data points on the J-Bus data network has tripled.

- Total number of diagnostic trouble codes has quadrupled.

“There is overwhelming evidence that being able to gather the information available from today’s trucks is step one to completing a successful repair,” Reimmuth says.

DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS

Consequently, choosing diagnostic software that can handle this wide range of requirements is imperative for any organization maintaining heavy duty vehicles.

There are diagnostic tools available that can provide this important data, he says, such as Noregon Systems’ JPRO Heavy Duty Fleet Service software. This diverse software package works with all makes of heavy duty on-highway vehicles and provides diagnostic trouble codes, all component and vehicle ECUs, key data points and operational data, all in an easy to use interface for diesel technicians.

“The exponential growth of vehicle electronics and data has resulted in more than 20,000 OEM vehicle diagnostic trouble codes associated with the general population of heavy duty trucks,” notes Reimmuth, and can require up 40 OEM diagnostic software applications for service.”

Since JPRO Heavy Duty Fleet Diagnostic software is PC based, it works as a standalone diagnostic tool or in conjunction with OEM applications. The software can be installed on existing diagnostic shop computers.

DATA CAPTURE

Another challenge for maintenance organizations is capturing the vehicle data from the J-Bus network and storing it for future use.

Traditional service documentation for parts replaced, repairs and preventative maintenance performed now has an added critical requirement: vehicle data and diagnostic status, Reimmuth says. This is needed when the truck pulls into the service bay and again when the vehicle is repaired and leaves.

JPRO software, by way of example, automatically records a vehicle log file capturing: VIN, vehicle, engine, ABS, electronic transmission and multiplexed ECU data; and all diagnostic trouble codes, operational data and various other data. It then time stamps and saves the information directly to the computer’s hard drive for future reference or printing.

Trailer telematics systems

As the automotive industry becomes more global, some technologies developed in Europe are employed in the U.S.

One to watch for is WABCO’s telematics system, TrailerGUARD, which combines telematics with diagnosis of the trailer’s various operating data..

WABCO is a leading supplier of safety and control systems for commercial vehicles.

With TrailerGUARD, from any location via an easy-to-use internet portal, fleets can monitor trailer doors, tire pressure and axle load, among other operating information. The system also locates a vehicle in real time.

Recently added functions include:

- Electronic Braking System (EBS) Advanced, which tracks EBS warning lamps in the vehicle’s cab.

- Roll Stability Support (RSS), which shows when and how many times RSS has been required to stabilize the vehicle against rollover.

- Operating Data Recorder, which allows analysis of the driver’s performance, as well as the trailer’s utilization.