It’s a great time to be a mechanic in the school bus industry, as roles in the garage are changing alongside new technology. The power of Wi-Fi and telematics that monitor engine performance and provide diagnostics when the bus is anywhere on route gives school bus technicians a major advantage compared to old-school, wait-and-see troubleshooting.
Diagnostics can be difficult if the tools are not available, but now with vehicle manufacturers integrating telematics into their diagnostic platform, school bus technicians and fleet operators can stay one step ahead of unexpected and costly breakdowns. We asked the leaders in school bus telematics integration a few common questions on how their systems will affect technicians and fleet operators.
This month, we feature IC Bus, which partners with Tyler Technologies and GeoTab to offer vehicle telematics that features vehicle and engine diagnostics, vehicle location and routing. We spoke with Vice President of Sales Justina Morosin and discussed how telematics is transforming the industry, especially in the bus garage.
School Transportation News: Focusing on telematics how will your system change the role of the technician working on today’s school buses?
Morosin: Using a single online portal OnCommand Connection (OCC) streamlines existing telematics providing vehicle health reports for dealers, fleet managers and technicians. It’s the only architecture solution that provides vehicle location, on-road performance and fault codes through nearly any telematics partner. The OCC portal allows technicians to view active fault codes, history of occurrences, level of severity and an action plan to diagnose the repair. Health reports, along with maintenance alerts, can be shared between dealers and fleet managers.
OnCommand Connection fundamentally changes the technician’s approach to trouble codes. Before OCC technology, the verbal description of symptoms reported by the driver was the starting point for diagnosis, which could be different from the root cause.
OCC allows the customer to be proactive, seeing early indications of a possible problem. The time to repair the fault can be scheduled instead of escalating into a more substantial unplanned problem. The technician can also see the health report and history to go along with the experienced symptoms reported by the driver.
Based on diagnostic trouble codes, OCC can provide a fault code action plan. It can also link multiple diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) when combined to create synthetic fault codes that help identify the root problem that individual codes would not have revealed. Another big advantage to using telematics is knowing specifically what the problem is, ordering needed parts ahead of time or avoiding an out-of-service situation when a non-critical problem is discovered.
STN: With security concerns using Wi-Fi are there any safeguards in place to protect data?
Morosin: As far as security goes, with customer information Navistar is consistently working on enhancements to safeguard and protect data.
STN: What questions should school bus operators be asking about OCC?
Morosin: From Navistar’s viewpoint, when reviewing OnCommand Connection, fleet operators need to ask themselves who will be directly involved running the system. Will they have the power to make decisions, respond to driver concerns and schedule necessary actions?
The system can identify vehicles with a DTC whether the driver alerts the shop or not. The shop can diagnose the severity level of the DTC and proactively contact the driver and answer questions. They can either repair the problem in house or contact the dealer and make necessary arrangements.
STN: Who is the primary contact within the fleet operation?
Morosin: Telematics alerts can be filtered by severity level and time frame or can be provided non-stop for consistent monitoring throughout the day. An example for school buses is to log into the portal and use the filters to look for any buses showing DTCs when they are parked in the yard.
STN: Does your fleet operation incorporate cell phones?
Morosini: Mobile devices are compatible with OCC with a free app available for iOS and Android devices. Monitoring the fleet is not limited to a PC. These options give the people responsible a wireless connection no matter where they are and in real time.
STN: Thank you.
