Cummins X15 extended drain program

Trucking Alliance Endorses Developing Autonomous Trucks

Hands-off on the highway in the Freightliner Inspiration, a demo vehicle for autonomous-driving technologies. Photo: David Cullen

The Board of Directors of the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security (aka the Trucking Alliance) has announced its unanimous support for the development of autonomous driving technologies for commercial vehicles.

Per a Feb. 28 statement, the board stated that it “supports the development of advanced vehicle technologies that enable commercial drivers to utilize highly automated driving systems, enhancing their safety and security.”

The board also said that the Alliance “supports the use of these technologies to achieve safety performance levels that rival commercial airlines” and supports other initiatives that focus on drivers and their safety, such as “advanced driver assisted technologies in commercial vehicles, rather than commercial vehicles that rely solely on full automation.”

The statement pointed out as well that the Alliance “believes that commercial drivers are an indispensable asset to the safe operation of commercial vehicles” and that it “maintains the principle that commercial drivers are necessary to improve the safety and security of the general public.”

In addition, the board said it “believes that commercial drivers are integral to supply chain accountability, as well as managing unforeseen weather events, emergencies, detours, vehicle conditions, computer software programs, cybersecurity disruptions, cargo security, and in providing efficient customer services.”

The Alliance describes itself as a coalition of transportation and logistics companies, as well as supporting businesses, that are "committed to ensuring greater safety and security for commercial drivers and that support regulatory and legislative proposals that, if adopted, could reduce large truck accidents, injuries and fatalities that occur each year on the nations' highways."

The companies within the Alliance companies and the states they're headquartered in are: Cargo Transporters (North Carolina), Dupré Logistics (Louisiana), JB Hunt Transport Services (Arkansas), KLLM Transport Services (Mississippi), Knight ...Read the rest of this story

Cummins continues the digital march

Mack Launches Wireless Software Updates

Photo: Mack Trucks

NASVILLE -- Mack Trucks has launched Over The Air, to let customers update software wirelessly to minimize scheduling disruptions and increase efficiency and uptime. The company announced the rollout at the American Trucking Associations' Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting here.

Two categories of software updates are available through Mack Over The Air: one for powertrain components and the other for vehicle parameters like road speed limits, optimizing performance for customers with trucks that change duty cycles based on economics load type and geographic area.

“Mack Over The Air represents the next step in Mack's industry-leading approach to uptime,” said David Pardue, vice president of connected vehicles and uptime services for Mack Trucks. “Our customers can now make these updates whenever and wherever it is convenient for them.”

Mack Over The Air uses Mack GuardDog Connects integrated telematics hardware to deliver the software updates to customers. GuardDog Connect comes standard on every Mack model equipped with a Mack engine and provides proactive monitoring and repair planning, enabling real-time diagnosis of issues, scheduling of repairs and confirmation that needed parts are in stock and ready to install.

Mack Over The Air will be available for all Mack models equipped with GuardDog Connect and Mack's 2017 engines.

Mack Trucks also announced with Telogis that it is offering a free 30-day trial of Mack Fleet Management Services with Telogis Fleet. Telogis Fleet for Mack is a fleet management and telematics solution that can be activated over the air and scaled to different fleet sizes.

Using data from GuardDog Connect, Telogis Fleet provides real-time visibility of truck and driver performance.

“It's easy to read about the features that Mack Fleet Management Services with Telogis Fleet offers, but it's a game changer when you can try them first hand,” said Mack's Pardue. “With a 30-day free trial, customers can see ...Read the rest of this story

Photo from TMC in Nashville

HDT was on hand for the annual meeting of the American Trucking Associations' Technology & Maintenance Council in Nashville, Tennessee, Feb. 27-March 1, 2017. Here are a few of the sights.

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Remote updates coming for Volvo trucks

NASHVILLE. Volvo Trucks North America is adding remote update capability for all of its vehicles equipped with 2017 Volvo engines, transmissions, aftertreatment systems and other powertrain components. The new Remote Programming service will push our powertrain software updates, which average about two a year, as well as react to fault code conditions that can be corrected with a software download.

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Volvo Trucks Increases Uptime, Efficiency with Remote Programming

Volvo says software updates can be done while the driver is having lunch.

NASHVILLE — Volvo Trucks North America is expanding its connected vehicle services with new Remote Programming over-the-air updates for powertrain software and parameters.

Remote Programming uses Volvo's factory-installed telematics hardware and allows Volvo customers to perform over-the-air powertrain software and parameter updates anywhere in the U.S. and Canada where a cellular connection is available, and at the discretion of the vehicle's decision maker.

The system works through Volvo's Uptime Center, which will trigger the required updates once the fleet decision maker as designated through its Asist system OKs the update. The Uptime Center communicates with the driver to make sure the truck is secure, with the key off and the brakes set, explained Wade Long, product marketing manager, to HDT at the Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting Tuesday.

Parameter changes can be initiated at the request of the fleet. For instance, Long said, a fleet might want to change its top speed settings if the fuel of price spikes. Or it may want to change the programming on an engine or transmission to better suit a change in the truck's application, say from dry bulk trailers to liquid tankers.

Starting early next year, he said, the system will be able to remotely correct fault codes using software fixes.

“You don't have to go to the Apple store every time you update the OS on your iPhone,” he says. This is the same general concept. Instead of having to bring a truck into the shop, plug in and change programming while the shop is in for a PM, it can be done in 10 to 30 minutes while the driver is eating lunch or fueling.

The service will be available in the third quarter of 2017 for all Volvo trucks equipped with engines meeting ...Read the rest of this story