march2021 - 10

UPTIME

FROM THE EDITORS

Contributing to the
Right to Repair
An update on the Right to Repair Act, and how fleets can help ensure
OE repair information availability by reporting instances of non-compliance.
Technicians today know that physical tools
are only part of what is needed to service and
maintain vehicles. Equally important is the
service information used to diagnose and
repair an issue causing vehicle downtime.

By David
Brierley
Editor

@ DavidBrierleyFM

Access to vehicle
repair information

Fleets and independent repair shops have
faced continual challenges gaining access
to all of the information needed to properly
service vehicles. Signed into state law in 2013,
the Massachusetts Right to Repair Act looked
to address these challenges. Right to Repair
requires vehicle manufacturers to allow vehicle owners and aftermarket repair facilities
access to the same diagnostic and repair information available to the manufacturer's dealers.
A nationwide Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in 2014 for light duty
vehicles and in 2015 for heavy duty vehicles.
The MOU provides Right to Repair coverage for
all U.S. states, meaning all U.S. vehicle owners,
independent repair shops, and fleets have the
right to access OE-level repair information.

Reporting non-compliance

While these measures mark a huge victory
for consumers, independent repair shops, and
fleets, not all manufacturers have been quick
to comply, or comply completely. The National
Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) - and
other organizations - seek to rectify that.
NASTF was established specifically to help
identify and correct these gaps in the availability of automotive service information,
service training, diagnostic tools and equipment, and communications.
NASTF assists with facilitating collaboration between the vehicle service industry, the
tool and equipment industry, and OEMs, but
they rely on help from independent repair
facilities and fleets as well to report non-compliance with Right to Repair. It is imperative
for fleets to report when information is not
available and the manufacturer is unable to
provide it in order to ensure all OEs are in
compliance. If one fleet or service provider
is unable to access this information, it can
be assumed others have also had trouble
attempting to access that same information.

10 Fleet Maintenance | March 2021

»Fleets have faced challenges gaining
access to needed repair information.
Photo courtesy of Transervice

To gather these reports, NASTF has created a process called the Service Information
Request (SIR). The organization is currently
working to roll out a reporting tool, so fleets
wishing to file a report should visit NASTF.
org and register for a free account.
In the meantime, fleets can email individual reports to NASTF Executive Officer
Donny Seyfer at dseyfer@nastf.org with the
subject line " SIR Request " and include the
following information:
Ü VIN (if available)
Ü Year, make, and model
Ü What you were trying to do when you ran
into the issue
Ü What OE URL (web address) you used
Ü The OE support phone or email address you
used (this helps OEs resolve issues internally)
Ü What kind of problem is this? (service
information problem, tool-related problem, tool-related IT problem, vehicle security or reprogramming)
NASTF will then contact the vehicle manufacturer on your behalf in an attempt to get
the issue resolved.

The future of Right to Repair

Taking Right to Repair a step further, legislation was introduced in Massachusetts in 2018
to expand the act to include the data vehicles
generate and send via telematics.
" Starting with model year 2022, the
proposed law would require manufacturers

of motor vehicles sold in Massachusetts to
equip any such vehicles that use telematics
systems ... with a standardized open access
data platform, " the final ballot summary stated. " Owners of motor vehicles with telematics
systems would get access to mechanical data
through a mobile device application. With
vehicle owner authorization, independent
repair facilities (those not affiliated with a
manufacturer) and independent dealerships
would be able to retrieve mechanical data
from, and send commands to, the vehicle for
repair, maintenance, and diagnostic testing. "
The measure was included on the 2020
ballot and approved, with the support of
nearly 75 percent of voters.
This could impact the heavy duty MOU
and would be important to fleets on multiple
levels. For one, only the vehicle manufacturers
currently have access to all of the data being
produced by vehicles, whether it is through the
telematics system or other advanced vehicle
technologies, say experts in the heavy duty
market at the Auto Care Association.
" While most commercial fleets have visibility into some of the information coming off
of their assets, it is not always the case that
they have access or control over that data, "
they continue. " Furthermore, data security on
embedded systems is not consistent across
vehicle manufacturers, jeopardizing the availability of affordable diagnostic tools that need
to interact with vehicle systems. "
Advances in the availability of vehicle repair
data are important to all aspects of the repair
industry. The first step for fleets is to do their
part by reporting missing service information.

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march2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of march2021