june2022 - 25

These predictive technologies are being used
to inform maintenance and repair departments
about multiple issues that can be addressed in one
shot rather than making the vehicle return to the
service center several times over a two- or threemonth
period. They also inform maintenance
departments about likely future problems, giving
fleets a chance to schedule vehicle maintenance
before a catastrophic event occurs.
Planning ahead
Shiva Bhardwaj, CEO of Pitstop Connect, a platform
powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and
machine learning (ML) to predict potential truck
component failures weeks before they happen,
emphasized that a fleet's best bet is to use technology
to plan downtime and minimize pain points
related to unexpected downtime.
" Though fleet managers know they need data to
make efficient predictive maintenance decisions,
they fail to mine datasets to develop insights, "
Bhardwaj said. " An effective fleet monitoring
system leverages the power of AI, ML, cloud data
storage technologies, and big data analytics to
make accurate forecasts and assist technicians
in identifying faults. "
Pitstop software, for instance, provides fleets
with a vehicle health score, informing maintenance
operations of the top 15 high-risk vehicles.
" Those vehicles will continue to cause downtime, "
Bhardwaj said, adding that the software generates
reports that are automatically sent to partner
service centers and drivers as needed.
Bhardwaj added this " lessens manual work
and calculations, leaving little room for errors.
No routine inspections are required since your
[predictive maintenance] software has already
conducted full diagnostics and shared the realtime
vehicle health report with fleet managers. "
Trimble Transportation offers a TMT software
solution that provides communication between
the driver and maintenance operation in real time
as events happen on the road.
" By having that communication between the
driver, the operation, and maintenance, we can
increase our uptime, and planning and scheduling
the work, " explained Renaldo Adler, head of
» Trimble Transportation offers a TMT solution
that provides real-time communication
between drivers and technicians.
Photo: Trimble Transportation
software engineering, connected maintenance,
Trimble Transportation. " If you look at predictive
analytics and communicate that to operations,
there is a probability we can schedule the truck. "
The same goes for an in-house repair, Adler said.
Fleets can schedule a repair within Trimble's software
to ensure the truck gets fixed quicker.
" Operations can schedule it through our software,
which has a tool that sends the mechanic
the right information available to get that truck
back on the road, " Adler said. He also stressed
the need to know what parts and technicians are
required to complete the job.
Another plus is that modern software can be
wireless, allowing for over-the-air updates when a
truck on the road requires an update or calibration
of some sort, noted Willie Reeves, Paccar Leasing's
director of franchise maintenance.
" It can be done wirelessly instead of bringing
the vehicle in or going to a customer's yard and
plugging in the laptop, " Reeves said. " It doesn't
interrupt a driver coming and going. "
Enabling communication
TMT software gives maintenance professionals
the opportunity to check vital units and the overall
health of fleet vehicles. Operations today are
relying more on sensors to track a vehicle's performance
while it's out on a trip to see if the unit
is operating at normal range or outside of those
normal parameters, Reeves pointed out.
And these systems are only going to keep
advancing at a rapid pace. It wasn't all that long
ago when check engine lights and tire pressure
monitoring systems were considered novelties.
" Now, if we didn't have those technologies, we'd
be stuck on the road, " Reeves surmised.
" We are in such a microwave environment-
everything has to be done instantly, " he added.
June 2022 | FleetMaintenance.com
25
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http://www.FleetMaintenance.com
june2022

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