Navistar expands capabilities of OnCommand Connection platform

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Updated Mar 28, 2017

OnCommand ConnectionNavistar on Thursday at the Mid America Trucking Show in Louisville unveiled an expansion to its OnCommand Connection platform.

Terry Kline, Navistar’s Chief Information Officer, says there are currently more than 300,000 trucks operating under the company’s OnCommand Connection, two-thirds of which are competing brands. As part of the announcement, Kline announced Navistar will begin over-the-air updates for Cummins engines next week.

Making their debut Thursday was OnCommand Connection Telematics and OnCommand Connection Marketplace, which will feature an electronic driver log (ELD) app.

Kline says OnCommand Connection Telematics is a scaleable all-makes solution designed for owner-operators and small fleets who previously may not have had access to such vehicle data. OnCommand Connection Telematics will use OnCommand Connection Link 2, a universal telematics device that plugs into the truck’s service port. Available this summer, the device will provide users access to Navistar’s OnCommand Connection remote diagnostics.

“We believe we’ll be bringing telematics to the average owner-operator,” Kline says, “giving the owner-operator the opportunity to take advantage of the same technology the major fleets have access to.”

OnCommand Connection Marketplace is an open-architecture, cloud-based platform offering access to broad range of driver support tools, inspection reports, supplier apps, third-party apps, customer apps, OEM apps and onCommand Connection apps. The first app available in OnCommand Connection Marketplace is the Android and iOS compatible driver log.

“We really focused on ease of use,” Kline says of the ELD app. “It’s tied into our whole [OnCommand Connection] backend diagnostic and hardware capabilities.”

Kline Thursday declined to provide a price for the unit and associated subscription services but the company provided an initial price of $120 and $14.95-$29.95 per month for Overdrive‘s ELD Buyers Guide, which will publish next month. Overdrive is a sister publication of CCJ.

Jason Cannon has written about trucking and transportation for more than a decade and serves as Chief Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. A Class A CDL holder, Jason is a graduate of the Porsche Sport Driving School, an honorary Duckmaster at The Peabody in Memphis, Tennessee, and a purple belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Reach him at [email protected]