» Noregon’s TripVision software analyzes data
collected by a telematics device that’s connected
to a vehicle. Aggregated health and safety
scores are based on the collective faults on a
vehicle. Color-coding and symbols make the
information easier to understand and act upon.
Photo courtesy of Noregon
October 2018 | VehicleServicePros.com 39
Reduce the chances of catastrophic vehicle failure
Reduce the likelihood of towing bills and other
costs associated with vehicle downtime
Share data with service partners to expedite
servicing and get vehicles back on the road
more quickly
If the system is capable, perform remote
programming while vehicle is still in the fi eld
A side benefi t of remote diagnostics is telematics
data provides information on driver behavior
such as driving speed, rapid acceleration and
hard braking. Real-time access to this data helps
fl eets more eff ectively encourage and enforce
driver best practices.
Another side benefi t has to do with shop effi ciency.
“Remote diagnostics represents a much needed
solution to the shortage of qualifi ed technicians,”
says Dave Covington, chief technology offi cer for
Noregon Systems. “If a top-level technician can
remotely diagnose fl eet vehicles, that frees up the
rest of the staff to perform repairs when the vehicles
arrive to the shop. Also, this prevents less-experienced
technicians from having to get involved
in what can be a lengthy diagnosis process in the
shop.” Noregon is a provider of commercial vehicle
diagnostic, repair and data analytic solutions.
Additionally, by knowing what is wrong with a
vehicle while it is still in the fi eld, fl eets have the
ability to route it to a shop that has a technician
and bay available as well as the necessary parts.
“In the case of a dire issue requiring roadside
service, the service provider will know which
tools and parts need to be brought to the vehicle,”
Covington adds.
How it works and
what fleets need
First of all, diagnostic-related vehicle data must be
extracted through some sort of telematics device.
Some modern vehicles come preinstalled with
telematics. Th ere is also a long list of aft ermarket
device providers for fl eets to choose from.
One such provider is Geotab.
“Our GO device delivers information when an
engine system fault occurs,” says Scott Sutarik,
Geotab’s associate vice president of commercial
vehicles. “Th at information includes fault description,
severity, recommendation, GPS and other data.
Th is information can be sent through a mobile app,
email or other web service. Additionally, the system
can map vehicle location to the closest repair shop,
towing provider, dealer or hotel.”
For example, a truck experiences a low-coolant
alert which triggers a notifi cation to the fl eet. Th e
fl eet calls the driver to check in before proceeding
to schedule the vehicle for service. Once the vehicle
is in the bay, the technician determines that the
EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) cooler is cracked.
Th e EGR cooler is repaired and the vehicle is sent
back on the road. Additional cost and downtime
have been avoided thanks to remote diagnostics.
Another telematics provider is NEXIQ
Technologies. Tom Kotenko, company director,
likens NEXIQ’s Blue-Link product to a Fitbit
device. By plugging Blue-Link into a vehicle’s diagnostic
connector, drivers can use a smartphone or
tablet to quickly access basic diagnostic information.
When used in conjunction with First-Link,
NEXIQ’s mobile app, Blue-Link helps drivers and
technicians understand the cause of alerts.
“Th e user can trigger what they want to see,”
Kotenko says. “Th at could be fault codes, inactive
faults or vehicle performance—whatever information
the user decides they need in order to better
manage the fl eet.” Intelligent soft ware with a frictionless
user interface is the second part of an
eff ective remote diagnostics product.
“Th e remote diagnostics soft ware should have
the capabilities of advanced in-shop diagnostic
and repair applications, down to the auto-identifi -
cation of components, bi-directional controls and
advanced features such as live monitoring of key
data points,” Noregon’s Covington says.
Noregon’s TripVision soft ware can work with any
telematics device, Covington points out, so long as
certain minimum requirements are met.
“Th e richer the data set, the better TripVision
can perform,” he adds. TripVision can provide realtime
full coverage of vehicles, aggregated health
and safety scores based
on collective vehicle
faults, and the ability
to detect performance
issues such as faults
aff ecting fuel economy.
“Solut ions like
TripVision have a
tremendous impact
on uptime and overall
maintenance costs by
providing insights needed to reduce unexpected
breakdowns,” Covington says. “However, complete
remote diagnostic capabilities for all makes,
models and components have yet to become readily
available in the market.”
Navistar, manufacturer of International Trucks,
is doing something about that. Th e company says
its OnCommand Connection, which fi rst went
live in January of 2014, is a remote diagnostics
solution for all makes and models. Because it is
an open platform, OnCommand Connection can
integrate with virtually all telematics providers in
North America. Th e diagnostic data being pulled
by the telematics device can be fed directly into
OnCommand Connection’s cloud-based repository
for presentation to the end customer.
“Many of our customers have mixed fl eets,” says
Andrew Dondlinger, vice president of connected
services at Navistar. “For remote diagnostics to
be as valuable as possible, our customers told us
they wanted a single solution. Th at’s what we’ve
done here.”
Because there has been some degree of standardization
in the telematics industry, many
heavy duty onboard diagnostic trouble codes (aka
fault codes) have the same meaning across vehicle
makes and models. According to Dondlinger,
that allows Navistar to provide the same kind of
predictive analysis across diff erent vehicle types.
“Th ere are only 100 to 150 codes out of thousands
where you really have to worry about a vehicle
going down,” Dondlinger says. “Other codes, like
a headlight being out, are more about compliance.
Compliance is important, but we’re more focused
on what will cause a catastrophic repair.”
Dondlinger says it is vital for telematics providers
to make sure data is readily accessible and
easy to digest.
“When remote diagnostics data goes into our
cloud, the fl eet can access it several diff erent ways,”
Dondlinger says. “Th e primary method is through
a web browser to our online portal. Th e fl eet can
have us set up the reporting any way it wants based
on its own structure and needs. Additionally, the
fl eet can have various email or text alerts set up
so it doesn’t have to sift through all the data for
every truck every day. For example, a fl eet could
have alerts set up based on diff erent fault codes and
levels of severity. Th e fl eet can also look at vehicle
health reports through a mobile app.”
» Geotab’s compact GO telematics device delivers
essential information when an engine system
fault occurs, including fault descriptions, severity,
recommendations for action and GPS location.
Photo courtesy of Geotab
» NEXIQ’s Blue-Link telematics device
works in tandem with its First-Link
mobile app to enable drivers and
technicians to quickly access diagnostic
information and understand the cause
of alerts. Blue-Link provides for 16-pin
connectivity on Volvo and PACCAR
vehicles. Blue-Link Mini provides for
connectivity on all 9-pin Class 8 trucks.
Photo courtesy of NEXIQ
/VehicleServicePros.com