OEMs aren’t the only ones in the over-the-air game. Third-party solution providers are starting to communicate with trucks remotely as well, and Noregon is one of the first third-party companies to offer remote access to trucks via its new ND2 hardware device.
“We have selected a subset of functions from of our JPRO Professional in-shop diagnostic and repair tool that we think make sense to access remotely,” said Dave Covington, chief technology officer at Noregon. “For example, aftertreatment issues require that you clear a fault code before you can have certain types of vehicle functionality like getting that vehicle in a limp home mode.”
Covington noted that clearing faults was a functionality that many of Noregon’s customers demanded. Another? Baselining vehicle fault codes.
“So if a truck has an intermittent fault, or what they think may be intermittent, some fleet operators might want to clear the fault, but the next time that fault occurs, they want to know that it happened again since the last clearing of the faults.” Covington said.
As Noregon readies its next evolution of TripVision, dubbed TripVision Uptime, it will bring over-the-air functionality to the fleet, but understand that the functionality is the same type of interaction you’d have with the truck if it were sitting in a service bay.
“If you can force a regen in the shop, now you can do it with our ND2 remotely,” said Terrah Stephens, Noregon product manager. Of course with any new process, it’s going to require a hands-on approach. “It’s going to take some training. Even though the process is easy and simple, it’s more about the mindset. It’s going to take fleets time to understand they can do these things remotely.”
Even more than that, Noregon’s new hardware and software will give you greater visibility into the truck than you’ve had before, according to Stephens.
“There are faults on a truck that some fleets and technicians never even see, like pending faults,” he said.
What’s a pending fault? It’s like the pregame show before the big fault event that requires action.
“A pending fault might require a little bit more drive time before it is considered active,” Covington explained. “So having real-time access to the truck, fleets will start seeing things that they didn’t have access to before. It will require a different mindset.”
For more on this topic, check out Over-the-air engine updates: It’s time to start the conversation.
Check out the rest of the July digital edition of Fleet Equipment here.
