This is the third of a four-part series that looks at telemetry data as a maintenance tool in trucking, the information service providers seek to provide fleets, and how fleets use that information. The series is based on a survey conducted this spring by CCJ parent company Randall Reilly. The results can be downloaded here. Additional coverage in this series includes Maintenance telematics: New-age battleground for OEMs and the aftermarket, Technology seeks role as fleet maintenance partner, and What are fleets looking for from maintenance telematics?
Trucking fleets have long turned to technology in search of information that keeps semis on the road and off the rack, but many find that there's no single solution that checks every box.
According to a survey conducted earlier this year by CCJ parent company Randall Reilly, more than 70% of fleet respondents said their trucks came factory-equipped with vehicle fault code monitoring at the time of purchase, yet nearly half (45%) have turned to third-party or aftermarket telematics services to gather maintenance-related data from trucks in their quest to improve uptime (68%); reduce costs by solving maintenance issues before they lead to major repairs (64%); and allow maintenance to be scheduled when convenient (48%).
Jason Spangler, fleet manager for Mint Hill, North Carolina-based Blue Dot Readi-Mix, manages his nearly Kenworth-exclusive fleet of mixers through multiple portals because he said it takes multiple data streams to get the kind of action items he needs to keep everything moving on time, and Blue Dot has almost no margin for error or delay.
"Truck down issues for us are critical – and they're critical for everybody – but for us in particular because we have a finite time," he said. "We're fighting against chemistry and that chemical reaction; we can slow it down a little bit, but there's a finite time for us to get the product to the customer."
Spangler said Kenworth's TruckTech+ Service Management System helps him anticipate issues with real-time data reporting on fault codes, allowing his team to more quickly respond to problems while also building a bank of common faults and repairs for proactive maintenance planning.
How are fleets and owner-operators using telematics? Find out with this comprehensive research from the editors at CCJ.
