A business solution on wheels: international, IBM collaborate on a telematics solution that could change the way truck fleets do business

Diesel Progress North American Edition, Sept, 2004 by John Peter

Telematics. Every car has got a bunch of it, but aside from in-car video and satellite radio, most of it is buried in safety systems that most drivers hope they never have to use and few are willing to pony up real cash to own.

In their minds, safety is the responsibility of the OEM. So how do you make a business case for telematics?

International Truck is not only making a business case for telematics, it's making telematics into a business solution.

Three years ago, International began development of its next generation heavy-duty truck. Working from a clean sheet of paper, designers and engineers created a new architecture built on a multiplex platform.

Mark Schumacher, International's marketing manager, Truck Electronics, said that the initial goal was to reduce vehicle wiring count by about 40%. But as an added benefit, engineers found that they could utilize the LAN architecture to get all of the systems and components on the vehicle to communicate with each other. "It really created a wealth of information for us," Schumacher says.

But the true potential of this new electric architecture was yet to be discovered.

"Every time we sell a commercial truck, we're usually adding some kind of equipment to it--whether it will be fixing utility poles, towing tracks or putting out fires. We realized that we could me this architecture to not only talk to the chassis equipment but to the body equipment as well. We worked really hard to integrate the whole system as one--the whole track as one electrical system."

With the truck now gathering all of this information on-board, International started to investigate the possibility of transmitting the information from the truck to people who could use it to manage their fleets better.

Enter IBM, a company that has done extensive research and development in enabling companies like International to do just that.

"We started with them from the very, beginning," said James S. Ruthven, program director, IBM Telematics Solutions. "We consulted with them on whether or not they should enter this business and if they enter this business, how. They were good enough to give us the business to help them architect the solution. They allowed us to do some of the implementation work and develop some of the applications ourselves"

The result is a tool that allows the wireless delivery of real-time vehicle operating data to fleet managers and technicians. All of the data is available via the internet, allowing for the information to be accessed from anywhere in the world.

"Put yourself in the shoes of a fleet manager," Schumacher said. "Maybe you have 50 to 100 delivery trucks. Every day, your drivers show up to work and take your minks off the yard and you lose visibility to your whole operation. You don't know where they are, you don't know where they've been. You don't know if they're meeting commitments, if the trucks are working."

International, which plans to have the system built into its tracks by the end of this year or early 2005, is currently launching an aftermarket version that not only can be retrofitted to International vehicles but other brands as well.

"We really see this as a fleet solution and you don't get the full advantage when you only outfit the 10 or 20% of the fleet that you turn over," Schumacher said. "We really see this affecting the entire fleet, that's when you start managing your business differently."

Schumacher said that the system's functions have been divided into three sections.

Mapping the fleet keeps the fleet manager in constant contact with the trucks, monitoring in real time and keeping a log of where the trucks have been and when, where and what time deliveries have been made.

The system can also set geo-fences or virtual boundaries. When the vehicles cross may geographic boundary, the fleet manager is instantly notified.

Any vehicle over 26,000 lb. must report the fuel used in each state for tax purposes. "That can be an administration nightmare" Schumacher said, "We've seen outfits that have people employed flail time (for this purpose)"

International has partnered with an outside firm to provide this service. They will supply location data (how many riffles are driven in how many states) and the vendor will compile the fuel information (Number of purchases and how many gallons were bought) and calculate how much fuel was burned in each state.

"The interesting element," said IBM's Ruthven, "is that you're now measuring miles driven as opposed to fuel used. There's a difference in the taxation perspective on fuel used while idling, for example, to keep the cab warm or use one of the attachments, than fuel used while you're driving. Fuel is obviously the most significant cost of the unit.

"Differentiating between the two, results in cost savings for the fleet manager."

The third piece of the system is what International calls a vehicle health suite of features. International can constantly monitor the vital signs of the vehicle, things like the battery state of charge, odometer readings, fuel levels and brake depressions, avoiding the chance of a small mechanical problem turning into a big one.