“I want to take any decision-making responsibility out of the hands of the driver,” says Michael Riemer, vice president of products and channel marketing for Decisiv, Inc. “There are many motivations for the driver to deliver the load on-time and he may decide to keep going because that’s in his best interest, but it’s not necessarily in the best interest of the company. The maintenance manager may make a better overall decision.”
Depending on the level of intelligence the truck can provide, diagnostic information may include a suggested repair plan and the most likely causes of the fault, which can expedite repairs.
“The more information I’ve got about the issue, that at least gives me the ability to decide which vendor I want to send it to,” Riemer says, “or, do I want to stop and re-power the load? It’s allowing me to make more informed decisions.”
On early-model trucks, installing diagnostic capabilities – a quick install Tina Alread, HDA Truck Pride’s director of sales, says can cost about $150, with upwards of a $45 monthly monitoring fee depending on services desired – can be a critical link in getting more efficiency from older trucks.
