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Your school buses are trying to tell you something … can you hear them?
By Jim Guzewich President, Versatrans Solutions
Think about how challenging it might be to learn a new language. Now think about trying to learn several at the same time. This sounds like an impossible task! The truth is communicating in another language is no different than communicating with your fleet. You simply need a way to understand the language it is speaking.
In the next few paragraphs, we are going to discuss three things: how you can communicate with your fleet, how technology is evolving on newer vehicles and how you can access their information, and how you can deploy an affordable telematics GPS solution on your fleet.
1. HOW YOU CAN COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR FLEET.
Just like people communicate using language, vehicles communicate in languages called protocols. An engine protocol is the language with which a school bus tries to communicate. The school bus protocol is not audible; is it a stream of binary code. Different engines have different protocols. Like people who speak multiple languages, buses can also use several protocols. Each school bus has information to share that is vital to student transportation professionals.
“Tyler is announcing the availability of FREE Tyler Telematic GPS units.”
School buses have onboard controllers, sometimes referred to as onboard computers, that are continuously running diagnostic and status checks to make sure that mechanical, electrical and electronic components are all functioning correctly. If something isn’t, the school bus delivers a code indicating that the component is not performing properly. These continual diagnostic and status checks provide valuable information. They can tell you when the battery voltage may be too low or if fluid levels have changed. They can tell you if the oil pressure becomes too low or the engine coolant is too hot. This information can often be received before your driver knows about it.
This valuable information, when detected and addressed early, can help avoid costly road calls and even more costly engine repairs. Your vehicles can also send alerts. For example, your vehicle can let you know if there is an issue with the ABS, if the fuel tank is too low, the engine or transmission is too hot, or that it is time to perform routine preventive maintenance. Access to this and other information allows you to be proactive with fleet maintenance. It allows you to detect a problem in the most cost effective way — before it occurs.
School district and private fleets are comprised of vehicles of varying age, manufacturer and fuel type. Each of these communicates with different protocols. You need a single telematic GPS solution that can communicate with your entire fleet regardless of protocol. Tyler Telematic GPS can translate nearly every engine protocol that exists on a school bus today.
So, no matter the age, manufacturer or fuel type of a school bus, we have a solution that can retrieve the diagnostic and status information from the vehicle, translate it and send it to a central repository. From that repository, our software solution generates alerts, reports, spreadsheets text messages and email messages in simple, easy to understand formats. Tyler’s solution can even ask for its own work order request.
2. HOW TECHNOLOGY IS EVOLVING ON NEWER VEHICLES AND HOW YOU CAN ACCESS THEIR INFORMATION.
Depending on the age of the vehicle, the type of information being collected can vary greatly. Most likely, if the vehicle collects it, Tyler Telematic GPS can translate it. Newer school buses collect a large amount of information, older school buses much less. As vehicles become more complex, so do their engines, transmissions and electrical systems.
Methods for accessing the information are changing as bus manufacturers continue to adopt the use of low voltage wiring. This means that electrical components and their circuitry are off limits for after-market installers looking for hard wire connections. Splicing in any device, including GPS, is no longer an option as this has the potential to significantly damage the bus’s electrical system and potentially void the bus manufacturer’s warranty. Just because it is sealed does not mean that the diagnostic and status information can’t be accessed. Manufacturers have provided safe points of entry through the use of controllers. Typically a vehicle has two or more controllers with a single point of entry. That point of entry offers a safe connection point for devices but it does require plug-and-play technology. Tyler Telematic GPS plugs into both older and newer models to collect the diagnostic information that these vehicles are communicating.
3. HOW YOU CAN DEPLOY AN AFFORDABLE TELEMATICS GPS SOLUTION ON YOUR FLEET.
Timely access to the diagnostic information on your yellow and white fleet is critical for a safe and efficient student transportation operation. Tyler provides an affordable opportunity to let you see the power of Telematic GPS for yourself.
To help school districts take advantage of this information and to operate more efficiently, Tyler is announcing the availability of FREE Tyler Telematic GPS hardware though our Plug In — To Tyler Telematic GPS Trial Event. Qualifying participants can receive up to 50 Tyler Telematic GPS units at no cost. If you are interested in learning more, see our ad in this publication for a link to a registration form, or contact a Versatrans Representative at (800) 433-5530 and ask to take part in this trial.
Now you know how you can communicate with ALL the buses in your fleet, how technology is evolving on newer vehicles and how you can access their information, and how you can deploy an affordable telematic GPS solution on your fleet. It is time to hear what your schools buses are trying to tell you.
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