Mack Trucks is only two months into what Mack Trucks North America President Jonathan Randall calls "a monster year for Mack," as the company celebrates 125 years. However, unlike a traditional birthday, Mack Trucks is the one giving the presents.
The company announced Monday it is adding two new features to its connectivity suite: automatic update capabilities to its over the air (OTA) update platform and granting motor carriers the ability to change and customize their own parameter settings through Mack Connect.
AutoSend updates
AutoSend updates are "very similar to your phone," said Nicole Portello, senior vice president and chief digital officer, adding fleets and drivers are notified via the Driver-Display Activation that an update is available and ready to be installed.
The fleet can decide when it wants to install the update, as it will remain available for 28 days. AutoSend allows fleets to perform OTA updates whenever a truck is parked and now without intervention from the fleet, driver or the Mack customer care agents.
Mack Trucks late last year hit 200,000 Class 8 trucks built with its proprietary telematics gateway, standard equipment on all Mack trucks with Mack engines for the last decade, and 73,000 Mack trucks subscribed to the Integrated Uptime bundle. More than 24,000 remote updates have been performed since the service launched.
Beginning in the coming weeks, AutoSend will become standard for customers with trucks equipped with Driver-Display Activation – Mack’s in-cab digital interface that enables drivers to review and install software updates directly from their truck’s dashboard display. Driver Display Activation capability comes standard on most Mack-powered trucks built after Nov. 30, 2020.
Customers do have the ability to opt out of AutoSend. Portello said Mack reached out to all its current subscribers notifying them of the change and fewer than 100 opted out.
"It gives a lot of control and a lot of power back to the fleets," Portello said, adding that trucks operating on the most current software have 22% less unplanned downtime.
Self-serve parameters
By mid-year, Mack will add the ability for fleets to change parameter settings and create truck-specific profiles in the Mack Connect portal, allowing motor carriers to adjust vehicle settings like road speed limits and idle shutdown parameters without requiring assistance from Mack’s Uptime Center or visiting a dealership.
Both new features come at no additional cost.
