Remote Diagnostics and the benefits for our fleet

Remote diagnostics is a valuable tool for increasing the efficiency of your fleet. Whether your trucks are on the road or in the shop, you’ll know exactly what is impacting your bottom line. While capabilities of diagnostic systems vary, they all perform the same basic function: keeping you informed about the condition of your fleet. So, what exactly does remote diagnostic technology do and why is it gaining popularity? Read on to see how remote diagnostics can help your fleet perform better.

What Is Remote Diagnostics?

A remote diagnostics system uses telematics technology to communicate information about the condition of fleet vehicles. Before the integration of telematics, vehicles simply failed and were towed to the nearest shop. There, they were diagnosed and repaired, and then returned to the road. Modern day technology, however, allows fleet owners to monitor vehicle health and tend to issues before they result in lengthy and costly repairs. Remote diagnostics helps fleet owners by:

1. Performing vehicle health reports
2. Monitoring vehicle fault codes
3. Generating notifications

Making Informed Decisions with Remote Diagnostics

Knowledge is power, and remote diagnostics gives you the power to make more informed decisions. Not only does this increase the efficiency of your fleet, it also helps you determine where to allocate your resources. Even if your fleet operates over a wide geographic area, using remote diagnostics in combination with GPS tracking, you can easily locate your vehicles and monitor how they are performing.

Increased Efficiency: The most attractive aspect

The efficiency of your fleet determines how profitable it is, and when the goal is to improve performance, everything counts. With remote diagnostics, increasing the efficiency of your fleet has never been easier. When you know a vehicle needs service — even before it malfunctions — you can send it to be repaired rather than send it out on the road. Remote diagnostics, used in conjunction with a telematics system, also allows you to monitor metrics like acceleration, speed limit adherence, and gear usage. Using these tools, you can coach your fleet to smoother driving, improved performance, and greater profitability.

The Power of Insight

By using a remote diagnostic service, fleets can route their vehicles to their preferred service centers after receiving confirmation of an available bay. For example, it allows fleet personnel to share vehicle health reports with their preferred service center, via email, ahead of the vehicle arriving to the lot. This advance notice provides the repair facility with the information needed to make an estimate on repair time. For example, if service centers know in advance a minor ABS issue is likely causing the problem, they can verify bay and labor availability to determine if they can manage the repairs, or determine that the fleet should reroute to a different shop.

Still in its early stages, remote monitoring and diagnostics is creating exciting opportunities for many industry segments. As the technology continues to evolve, fleets should expect more uptime, OEMs will gain more understanding into the performance of their proprietary components, and service centers will benefit from increasingly accurate diagnosis before the vehicle arrives, leading to enhanced logistics planning.

Conclusion: The Case for Remote Diagnostics

Tracking data generated through the use of a remote diagnostic system is useful for any fleet. Because it allows fleet owners to improve maintenance schedules and increase fuel efficiency, it positively impacts profits. As any business owner knows: it’s all about the bottom line. Whether your vehicles are frequently down or sitting in traffic for hours, remote diagnostics can help you find a solution.