A New Frontier in Diagnostics
Diagnostic tools are vital for fleet maintenance procedures today. But the systems can be expensive and difficult to use across different makes and models of trucks. Photo: Rush Truck Centers
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Diagnostic tools are vital for fleet maintenance procedures today. But the systems can be expensive and difficult to use across different makes and models of trucks. Photo: Rush Truck Centers
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The diagnosis process for Class 8 vehicle repairs has come a long way, and even more capable systems will soon give fleet managers and technicians unprecedented access to data and diagnostic abilities. But, as with many new and emerging fields of technology, there are growing pains.
Handheld diagnostic devices and shop laptops today allow technicians to access vehicle systems in ways that were unimaginable a few years ago. But with that power have come concerns over both the upfront and annual costs of hardware and software associated with these tools, as well as the proliferation of products and the continuing lack of any sort of common platform to simplify matters on the fleet side of the equation.
“As Class 8 equipment continues to become more complex and sophisticated, diagnostics tools are becoming essential, and the adoption from desktop to handheld has accelerated,” says Scott Vanselous, TMW Systems executive vice president. “Fleets are changing the way they measure maintenance operations. More progressive fleets are tracking equipment downtime and utilization versus the cost to operate a truck. This is a major shift in the industry.”
Taken as a whole, Vanselous says, these changes on the diagnostic front have been transformational for fleets, which are now able to minimize and even eliminate unscheduled downtime. “Diagnostic handheld devices are just more efficient and help fleets quickly understand the health of critical components on their vehicles to take proactive action, before breakdowns occur,” he says.
“The rate of change is incredible,” adds Dick Hyatt, chief executive officer and president, Decisiv. “And we’re moving into two distinct areas of operation today: One where you have telematics relaying information directly off a …Read the rest of this story
