During the 2017 Detroit Connect Showcase event, being held this week in Yountville, Calif., Detroit made two important product announcements:
- All Freightliner Trucks and Western Star customers with an active Detroit Connect suite of connected vehicle services subscription now have access to the Detroit Connect portal, a hub for new and future connectivity services such as the Detroit Connect Virtual Technician remote diagnostic service for Detroit-powered fleets.
- Fleets with the new Freightliner Cascadia equipped with a Detroit engine will be able to remotely access Detroit Diesel Engine Control (DDEC) performance reports over-the-air via the Detroit Connect portal starting late summer 2017. Detroit is a brand of Detroit Diesel Corporation (https://demanddetroit.com), a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA). The leading heavy duty truck manufacturer in North America, DTNA (https://daimler-trucksnorthamerica.com) manufactures, sells and services commercial vehicles under the Freightliner, Western Star, and Thomas Built Buses nameplates.
Portal
With the introduction of the new Detroit Connect portal, fleets have access to a variety of vehicle performance data right at their fingertips to empower them to make the best decisions for their business, says Matthew Pfaffenbach, vice president, operations, Detroit Diesel. The Detroit Connect portal – which is designed for the variety of roles found in a fleet – provides users information about overall fleet health, as well as enables them to take a deeper dive into specific fault events communicated by Virtual Technician.
Real-time fault event notifications delivered through the portal lets fleets quickly determine whether a vehicle requires an immediate service stop or can continue on its route or finish work at the jobsite, maximizing fleet uptime, he says. The portal also delivers full diagnostic information from Virtual Technician, including the cause of the fault and in some cases the steps needed to repair the issue.
With just a few clicks on the portal, a fleet gets a telling view of its vehicles’ fault event history, revealing trends that may lead to a more severe event, says Greg Treinen, manager, Connectivity, DTNA. The portal also organizes a fleet’s vehicle data into insightful metrics that allow it to quickly identify trends across the fleet.
“DDEC reports can also be viewed and archived via the portal, providing customers information that can be used to further analyze their vehicle’s performance,” he adds. “With the Detroit Connect portal, customers can customize and manage the user experience based on their specific needs.
“Every business has different ways to consume and analyze information, and we know a one-size-fits-all approach won’t resonate with our customers. With the Detroit Connect portal, they can manage the way they interact with their vehicle’s performance data in a way that best suits their individual priorities.”
Access Point
The Detroit Connect portal is the access point to all new and future Detroit Connect services as well. Fleets with the new Freightliner Cascadia will soon be able to utilize
Detroit Connect Remote Updates over-the-air update capabilities and have access to fuel efficiency insights and safety event reporting delivered by Detroit Connect Analytics using the portal.
“It’s also easy for fleets to customize the Detroit Connect portal for various users across their operations, ensuring the right people are viewing the right vehicle information in a way that is most useful to your company,” Treinen says
Available in late 2017, the corresponding Detroit Connect mobile app further enhances communications and personalization by giving customers access to the same data available in the portal – such as Virtual Technician fault event diagnosis and history, as well as Detroit Connect Analytics fuel efficiency insights and safety reporting – without needing to be at a desk or on a computer. Users will be able to determine how they receive information – via text, push notifications and/or email.
Access to the new Detroit Connect portal and mobile app is included with any active Detroit Connect subscription at no additional charge. Freightliner and Western Star fleets with an active Detroit Connect subscription can sign up for the portal by going to: www.DemandDetroit.com/login.
Remote Updates
Starting later this summer, fleets with the new Freightliner Cascadia equipped with a Detroit engine will be able to remotely access DDEC performance reports over-the-air via the Detroit Connect portal.
DDEC reports use diagnostics to analyze driver and vehicle performance, says Lauren Attinasi, product strategy manager, connectivity, DTNA.
“They provide key data, such as fuel efficiency information, time spent in top gear, time spent in cruise control and much more,” she says. “The reports help fleets better understand vehicle performance and allow for insights that will help them improve vehicle fuel efficiency.
“By making DDEC reports available through the Detroit Connect portal, we are eliminating the need for fleets to bring a vehicle into the shop and extract the reports,” she continues. “The remote performance reports will benefit uptime as well as overall vehicle insights.”
Late this year, additional features of Detroit Connect Remote Updates, such as fleet-initiated remote engine parameter programming and Detroit-initiated firmware updates, will be rolled out to new Cascadia customers.
All Remote Updates are enabled by the new Detroit Connect platform, which is available exclusively for the new Cascadia.
Mantras
Detroit Diesel’s Pfaffenbach says the company, as it develops new products and services, has two mantras:
- Create an exceptional customer experience.
- Be the trusted source of data.
