Mack Trucks Touts Over-the-Air Uptime
ATLANTA — Mack Trucks announced an expansion of its connected-vehicle services with the rollout of Mack Over The Air, which enables remote software updates for powertrain components and vehicle parameters for trucks equipped with its proprietary 2017 or newer engines.
David Pardue, vice president of connected vehicle and uptime services at Mack Trucks spoke with Transport Topics after Mack’s March 6 press event at the Technology & Maintenance Council’s annual meeting.
“The core message is Mack’s capability to provide over the air repairs and updates to vehicles,” he said.
Since going live in October 2017, 20 customers and about 3,500 vehicles have used Mack Over The Air, the company said. During that time, Mack said it performed more than 380 updates, which it estimated saved customers more than 500 days of downtime and decreasing the time needed to do a software update from days to minutes.
“We said last year we had an ambition to do this,” Pardue said. “We did it, we are doing it live today.”
Over the Air is the latest offering in Mack Connect, an uptime and productivity service that turns data from trucks, drivers and the service process into insights to help customers run their businesses more effectively, the company said.
At the press event, Mack highlighted customer Brooklyn Ready Mix in Brooklyn, New York, which updated engine and aftertreatment software on all 10 of its concrete mixers in one day. Updates were completed as the trucks were in between jobs or at the depot being refilled, allowing the concrete supplier to continue regular operations while optimizing the performance of its trucks, Mack said in the press release.
Mack Connect combines technology such as Mack GuardDog Connect integrated telematics and the Mack ASIST service management system with Mack OneCall uptime agents in its 24/7 customer service center to keep trucks on the job generating revenue, the company said.
Mack said its Over The Air service is free during the initial two-year base engine warranty, with customers having the option to extend the service after two years.
