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Addressing Advanced Vehicle System Service

Published Date

Safety has always been a top priority for fleets and one of the ways that many carriers are meeting that objective today is by adding several Advanced Driver Assistance Systems to their newest trucks, tractors and trailers. ADAS technologies include active braking, steering, warning and camera monitoring systems.

The latest vehicles from manufacturers are also equipped with a range of electronics and telematics systems, which can provide warning about issues with ADAS and other systems. Furthermore, the more advanced these technologies become, the more interconnected they are with each other.

For commercial vehicle fleets and their service operations, the advancements in safety solutions can create a new challenge in the form of a learning curve for providers tasked with ensuring that they are functioning correctly. Equally important is knowing how to effectively diagnose and repair these technologies if a problem does arise.

The value that can be realized by using on-board telematics to ensure proper and effective safety system maintenance and repairs come in several ways:

  • Data collected by a telematics device can be accessed remotely to identify issues in real-time and use that information to prevent unscheduled events and repairs on the road, and potential inspection violations.
  • Telematics data can streamline service and reduce downtime by using it to ensure that your operation is ready with an available bay, a trained technician, and the parts needed.
  • Connected solutions and telematics systems can provide insights into repeat repairs so inspection and preventive maintenance programs can be more proactive in preventing breakdowns, and more effective specification choices can be made.

In all of those ways, maintenance software can play a key role in service and repair practices for ADAS and other technologies, explained Dave Walters, senior solutions engineer at Trimble. “You can use asset management systems like our TMT Fleet Maintenance and TMT Service Center software as part of normal maintenance for advanced vehicle systems,” he said.

“Adding ADAS and other technologies to DVIR and inspection checklists to validate their proper function can eliminate issues,” Walters continued. “That’s especially true for components that are on the outside of the vehicle like sensors and cameras, which need to be positioned correctly to function, and be protected from weather and road conditions.”

For on-board technologies that are connected to a vehicle’s electronics and telematics systems, Walters indicated that there are mobility products that can send alerts and notifications to fleet and outside service operations. With that early warning capability, diagnostic tools that are integrated with maintenance management software can be used to identify problems and determine the repairs that will need to be made before the vehicle even arrives at a service location.

There’s no shortage of reasons why the use of advanced safety and other technologies has steadily increased in trucking operations. “By meeting their preventive maintenance and repair needs with management software, effective technology service can be proactive and not reactionary,” Walters stated, “and help eliminate unnecessary downtime and lost revenue.”