Fleet Maintenance - 16

tion chamber, and most importantly, the heater
will work when you need it," he says.
Eberspaecher Hydronic water heaters provide
another option for fleets looking to reduce
engine idle.
"This is one of the areas that are overlooked
when adding equipment to a truck, or any piece of
equipment you may have, such as skid steers, day
cabs, trailer spotting units, or remote equipment
that does not have an electrical plug available for
an engine mounted block heater," Eberspaecher's
Stencil says. "Consider it a portable block heater
that circulates hot coolant throughout the engine.
It is mounted on the truck or equipment and stays
with it wherever it goes, so no more electrical plugins or cords to worry about. Simply set the timer
for a couple of hours before departure and you will
have a warm engine before you start your day."
Stencil further notes the company has focused
on increasing dependability of the water heaters
by including a brushless motor, moving electronics
away from internal heat sources, and creating a
combustion process that requires less maintenance.

»This diagram demonstrates the
heating process and the components
of an Airtronic heater, used to provide
in-cab temperature control.
Image courtesy of Eberspaecher

Monitoring idle

Another method of combating engine idle is
through monitoring engine and driver behavior
through tracking software. Verizon Connect offers
their GPS Fleet Tracking Software, which can be
used to gather data surrounding what vehicles and
drivers are actually doing with their vehicles so
fleet managers can then improve the performance
of how those drivers are operating their vehicles
and ultimately decrease the time spent idling.
"Verizon Connect Solutions helps provide
visibility where vehicles are and how they are
operating, it helps fleet operators monitor driver
safety and behavior, and it allows them ultimate-

ly to increase the efficiency and productivity of
their workers and drivers, and [offers] the ability
to ensure they are operating in a safe manner,"
Verizon Connect's Aries says.
This is done through vehicle tracking and
obtaining data from the vehicle and its systems.
That data is then surfaced visually and in an
easy-to-interpret way for a fleet owner, manager,
or dispatcher who is operating those vehicles from
an administrative perspective.
Verizon Connect's GPS Fleet Tracking Software
allows a fleet to look at how long an engine has

been idling and receive alerts when it has been
idling longer than a predetermined amount of
time. Should an engine surpass this parameter,
an alert will be sent to the fleet manager and/or
the driver via their mobile device or email. This
allows the driver to correct the problem in the
moment. Fleet managers can also take a more
holistic approach by running reports and viewing data over a period of time that would reveal
trends, providing information around how long
drivers tend to idle their vehicles.
Not only is the amount of engine idle time
customizable for the fleet, but there
are other options available to monitor
engine idle and alert in case of parameter breaches.
"You can create exceptions for different scenarios," Aries says. "We know that
depending on the vehicle or what job is
being performed, some vehicles may
Introducing the HD Pro III, our latest all-in-one,
need to be in an idling state to perform a
do-it-all scan tool, covering class 4-8 commercial
certain function. For example, a cement
vehicles and off-highway machinery, such as
truck will need to be in an idling state
mining and farming equipment. The HD Pro III is
for that engine to power some of the
a wired Android tablet, perfect for those in a budget,
mechanical components of that vehilooking to perform bi-directional controls and change
cle. With GPS Fleet Tracking Software,
& set parameters, diagnose hydraulic systems, brake
you are able to distinguish what makes
systems, and perform VGT calibrations and DPF resets/
regeneration. What's even better is that it now comes with
sense for your fleet. You would be able to
Two years of Motor's FleetCross Service - a premier
define when it is appropriate to idle at a
repair information database accessible from within the
certain jobsite by defining a geo-location
HD Pro III. Two years of software updates and all cables
through a geo-fence, defining a certain
and connectors are included.
area where it would be appropriate to
have an idling engine.
"You can also, through the way we
2 Years Motor FleetCross | 2 Years Software Updates | Class 4-8 HD & Agri-Industrial
can connect to a vehicle's engine, detect
when one of those functional compoFull Engine/ Brakes/ Transmission/ BCM Coverage with
nents is turned on," he continues. "So,
Bi-Directional Controls, Adaptations and Special Functions
you can create an exception when one
ARE UPDATES!
2 YRS OF SOFTW TORS INCLUDED
of those components is activated. With
EC
CABLES & CONN
a cement truck, if you've got a mechanical component dispatching cement out
of the back of the truck, we can view

The Wait is Over. Introducing the HD Pro III .

VehicleServicePros.com/11078899

16 Fleet Maintenance | July 2020

http://www.candointl.com http://www.VehicleServicePros.com/11078899

Fleet Maintenance

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fleet Maintenance