Nyberg Urges Greater Focus on Preventive Maintenance

This story appears in the Sept. 29 print edition of Transport Topics.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The trucking industry must focus more on preventive maintenance instead of waiting for trucks to break down before addressing service issues, a top Volvo Trucks official told a meeting of maintenance technicians and executives.

In fact, he said, trucking could learn something from the airline industry when it comes to preventive maintenance.

“We need to change the mindset and find the value of being proactive; making sure that we change components, making sure that we repair trucks before they break down,” said Göran Nyberg, president of sales and marketing for Volvo Trucks in North America, during a keynote speech here at American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council’s fall meeting.

“I’m not saying to put wings on the truck, but I think the mindset needs to change,” he said. “I would like Volvo Trucks to become the first airline in the trucking industry.”

Nyberg stressed technology as the answer to some of the industry’s future challenges, which range from fuel efficiency to productivity.

Along those lines, Volvo’s connected vehicle remote diagnostics system — which sends major fault codes back to service providers — is showing great promise, he said.

So far, the company is logging average reduced diagnostic time by 70%, reduced repair time by 22% and maintained first-time, right-repair times of more than 90%, Nyberg said.

“We are capturing things that are about to happen before they happen,” Nyberg said. “So I think that proves that these technologies are here to stay and that they create value.”

Nyberg added, “Connectivity is here to stay. Today we have one-way communication, but tomorrow we will have two-way communication.”

Nyberg said he also sees a future in trucks with GPS systems that memorize roads and adjust engine performance to increase fuel efficiency, and systems that allow trucks to platoon to reduce fuel consumption.

“Of course, we can have longer vehicles with heavier loads, but is that really going to change in a big way our way of transporting goods?” Nyberg asked. “We need more sophisticated solutions than that.”