Electronic Communication and Telematics Transform Class 8 Truck Market

Productivity and safety of Class 8 trucks leaps forward with integrated designs that maximize benefits of telematics collision avoidance systems

November 5, 2019

Curt Bennink

Complex body upfits are utilizing more electronic controls that draw information from data produced by the truck chassis and are even tying in to the truck telematic systems.

Freightliner

Integrated truck designs continue to evolve as manufacturers strive to increase operating efficiency, simplify operations and reduce downtime. Electronics continue to dominate advancements in Class 8 truck design. Controller Area Network (CAN) communications allow the components on trucks to communicate with each other over multiplexed wire harnesses. CAN technology makes it possible to optimize Class 8 trucks for specific applications, while the data shared through telematics systems makes it easier to diagnose and service the trucks. This results in greater fuel efficiency and increased productivity.

Recently, advancements in onboard electronic communications have led to development of advanced collision avoidance systems; the ability to capture harsh braking and acceleration events to help train drivers; and onboard diagnostic systems that use telematics systems to inform owners and dealers of impending problems in real time.

Many customers now realize the benefits that advanced electronic features can have on productivity and safety. “Our customers are demanding more innovative and sophisticated features which translate to more electrical componentry,” says Ashraf Makki, product marketing manager, Volvo Trucks.

CAN communications have progressed past merely connecting components on the truck chassis. CAN systems are now starting to communicate with truck bodies. Communication between the truck and body allows operating parameters to be customized for optimal performance.

“We are seeing CAN multiplexed messaging requests on a daily basis,” says John Felder, product marketing manager, Volvo Trucks.

Consider Class 8 Truck Electrical Demands

The updated electrical system on the Western Starm4700 features a third power distribution module, which provides up to 40 relays and 42 fuse positions. This update delivers an increased power capacity from 150 to 325 amps.Western StarWith the pace of electrical advancements on both the truck and body side of the business, the demands on trucks’ electrical systems can vary widely depending upon the application.

“With the increasing demand in today’s trucks, the minimum alternator size offering for Western Star is 160 amps for straight truck applications,” says Samantha Parlier, vice president, marketing and strategy, Western Star. “It can be as high as 275 amps for a highly optioned vehicle. Furthermore, all alternators are equipped with a remote sense feature, which signals the alternator to increase voltage output to compensate for voltage drop. The additional voltage forces the current into the battery faster, which results in reduced battery charge time.”

Western Star addressed these evolving demands with the recent redesign of its 4700 vocational Class 8 truck. “The updated electrical system on the 4700 features a third power distribution module, which provides up to 40 relays and 42 fuse positions,” says Parlier. “This update delivers an increased power capacity from 150 to 325 amps.”

Not all applications are going to require more power. But complex body upfits are utilizing more electronic controls that draw information from data produced by the truck chassis and are even tying in to the truck telematics systems.

“Power demands are dependent on the application,” says John Felder, product marketing manager, Volvo Trucks. “In some cases, applications require additional electrical power, while other applications require less electrical power due to the improvements of vehicle LED technology. We’ve seen an increase in data requests from body upfitters as they are seeing the value in fully understanding the functions of the truck operations.

“In terms of additional electrical power demands, additional electrical infrastructure is being offered by Volvo Trucks, and Volvo Bodybuilder Instructions (VBI) is available to provide data insights and answer any inquiries,” he adds.

Driver Safety Takes Center Stage

Volvo Dynamic Steering (VDS) offers a safer, more comfortable experience for drivers, improving stability when encountering corsswinds, highway crowning, soft shoulders, or emergency situations.Volvo TrucksCollision prevention and mitigation technology first appeared on Class 8 over-the-road trucks. Systems such as the Bendix Wingman Fusion and Wabco OnGuard have rapidly gained acceptance. Now, this technology is finding its way into the vocational truck market.

“Active safety systems have made significant leaps in functionality and features in recent years, and because of this, have gained significantly in popularity in all markets including vocational applications,” says Parlier. “Western Star started offering the Wabco OnGuard system with the introduction of our highway model, the 5700XE, in 2015. In 2019, we expanded the availability on the OnGuard system to the 4700, which is our most versatile vocational model.”

Offerings are quickly progressing beyond collision prevention and mitigation to addressing driver fatigue. “Our most recent technology announcement was Volvo Dynamic Steering (VDS), which offers a safer, more comfortable experience for drivers, improving stability when encountering crosswinds, highway crowning, soft shoulders or emergency situations,” says Makki. “Volvo Trucks recently introduced its next iteration of Volvo Active Driver Assist (VADA), a comprehensive collision mitigation system which uses radar sensors and cameras to identify and detect an object within a truck’s proximity and react accordingly.”

Cut Diagnostic Time

Electronic diagnostic software is now able to dramatically cut diagnostic time.

“Historically, vocational trucks have been full of wires and connectors, leaving the burden on the technician to sort through various connections and identify the problem,” says Mathew Long, product success, Verizon Connect. “Today’s advanced technologies are ‘repair ready,’ surfacing diagnostic information more easily and giving service managers the data to quickly troubleshoot issues and get vehicles back on the road.”

The latest advancements in telematics software simplify the data stream being produced to provide actionable data. This keeps the service from being overwhelmed by the amount of data generated by trucks in the field.

“Telematics systems help take the frustration out of endless data pools that may feel like finding a needle in a haystack,” says Long. “Rather than sifting through countless data points, telematics reporting and alerts can surface what’s important so that your team is spending time on what matters most.”

The advanced electronic systems do require additional training for service technicians. “Technicians must be certified to handle the specific software and parameter updates associated with advanced technologies such as VDS and VADA. Certification is available through Volvo Trucks Academy,” Makki notes.

Identify and Correct Unwanted Behaviors

Telematics data can provide insight into driver behavior. This allows you to coach drivers who may need additional training.

“Improved safety outcomes are at the forefront of emerging technologies entering the vocational truck market today,” says Long. “These technologies lend a hand in better understanding what a vocational truck is doing, and monitor driving behavior, which can lead to better coaching and reduced accidents. Our smart video dash cam provides AI-classified videos directly to fleet managers so they can take action on a driving event without sifting through hours of video.”

Telematics Enhance ROI

Collision prevention and mitigation technology first appeared on Class 8 over-the-road trucks. Now this technology is finding its way into the vocational truck market.Volvo TrucksTelematics systems allow fleet managers to better manage vocational trucks through the data collected. To make this possible, Class 8 truck manufacturers work with third-party telematics system providers to ensure key data sets can be accessed from the truck’s electronic control modules.

“Vehicle manufacturers have a vested interest in ensuring their customers get full value from the vehicle,” says Long. “OEMs actively make vehicle data available to third parties to help ensure vehicle owners get a holistic view of their vehicles. The best-in-class telematics solutions offer both OEM and aftermarket hardware for customers based on the needs of their business.”

There is a standard in place that defines the data available for third-party telematics suppliers. “The Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP) introduced a telematics standard in 2010,” says Long. “The standard has evolved over time and AEMP 2.0 (also known as ISO 15143-3) is the most recent version. Parameters of the standard include location, asset identification, operating hours or miles, fuel burn, engine temperatures, fuel level, idle time and average power percentage.”

Manufacturers still have access to data that may not be available to third-party vendors. “Volvo Trucks’ in-house telematics services have a much larger threshold of information that can be shared, like data from remote programming and remote diagnostics, compared to third-party telematics solutions with which we share limited information,” says Makki. “In terms of open architecture, third-party telematics capture only the needed data.” ET

Data Creates New Dealer Model

“Vehicle connectivity services such as remote diagnostics have certainly made it easier to make repair decisions that will keep the truck out of the shop and on the job,” says Samantha Parlier, Western Star.
Availability of real-time telematics data is transforming the way Class 8 truck dealers service and repair vehicles. “We work closely with our dealers, sharing data collected from our customers to better understand their needs,” says Ashraf Makki, Volvo Trucks. “For example, we take data from a customer’s truck regarding maintenance and communicate directly with dealers, ensuring our customers receive the most thorough and timely service, whether it be remote diagnostics or remote programming.”
Truck dealers have been leveraging the latest technologies to slash downtime expense for their customers. Problems often arise when drivers don’t report minor issues or error messages to the service departments. Telematics systems provide immediate visibility of these issues directly to service technicians and fleet managers.
Detroit Connect Virtual Technician remotely identifies fault codes on properly-equipped Daimler Trucks. The service has been on all Detroit-equipped Freightliner and Western Star trucks since April 2011. The connectivity platform enabling Virtual Technician is compatible with vehicles EPA10 or newer.
“Fleets and owner-operators know within minutes when their vehicles experience engine and aftertreatment fault events, the severity of the events and when, where and how to best fix the issue causing the fault so they can make informed decisions,” says Parlier. “This keeps trucks from making unnecessary trips to the shop. And if a truck does need to visit the shop, the vehicle can be repaired more quickly to get it back to work.”
Approximately 20% of fault events transmitted by Virtual Technician have been identified as driver actionable. In these cases, Virtual Technician sends the fleet instructions for the driver to use in resolving the issue — placing the solution to the fault event in the driver’s hands.
To maximize the customer experience, manufacturers have worked with their dealer organizations to create programs that dramatically cut dwell time when a truck enters the shop for repairs, while providing critical feedback in a timely fashion to the truck owners so businesses can make informed decisions.
Manufacturers typically certify high-performing dealers that meet a carefully defined set of criteria. There are notable differences between the services offered by many of these certified dealerships and the rest.
Daimler Trucks North America dealers strive to achieve the Elite Support certification. Repair times are carefully tracked. Freightliner’s target is to average 72 hours per truck to get in the door, get diagnosed and get repaired.
Mack Trucks developed its Certified Uptime Centers to dramatically reduce dwell time. This involves change within a dealership. One of those changes is dedicating bays for the short-time repair. This addresses the issue of repairs that take three hours or less being stuck in the dealership for four days or greater.

Over-the-Air Updates Reduce Trips to the Shop

The latest evolution of truck telematics systems are over-the-air updates, with most Class 8 suppliers already announcing their availability. Customers can make changes to parameters such as road speed, cruise speed, idle shutdown by time and idle shutdown by temperature, etc.
Daimler Trucks’ Remote Updates is enabled by the Detroit Connect platform and is part of its suite of connected vehicle services, which also include Detroit Connect Virtual Technician and Detroit Connect Analytics. All the services are accessible via the Detroit Connect portal. Through the portal, fleet managers can access vehicle fault event and performance data to further deepen their knowledge about their overall fleet health.
Mack Over The Air was launched in February 2017 with two categories of software updates: one for powertrain components, and one for vehicle parameters such as road speed. It has improved performance particularly for customers with trucks changing duty cycles regularly depending on economics, load type and geographic area. Software updates take less than 20 minutes; parameter updates take under 10 minutes. Updates can be completed anywhere in the U.S. and Canada where a cellular connection is available.
Mack Over The Air enables remote software updates for powertrain components and vehicle parameters for Mack trucks equipped with Mack 2017 or newer engines. It is provided at no charge during the initial two-year base engine warranty, with customers having the option to extend the service after two years. It is also included with Mack’s extended engine coverage plans. New uptime contract subscriptions include Over The Air features, including two customer-initiated parameter updates per vehicle per year.
Volvo Trucks’ newest series of parameter updates complements its newly-launched Parameter Plus subscription package, which allows for up to 50 parameter updates annually per covered vehicle. With over 250 parameters to choose from, this new set of updates will provide customers with notable value in terms of cost savings, fuel efficiency and uptime.
The Parameter Plus package, introduced in March 2019, set the stage for the release of advanced updates. Average industry time for typical parameter and software updates can require two or more days of downtime, along with the added administration and costs of acquiring a supplementary truck and managing additional driver logistics. The new Parameter Plus package with OTA powertrain software updates can be completed in under 20 minutes and parameter updates in less than 10 minutes.